Alternate Insanity
by Leo-Wolf
Summary: Continuation from The Insanity Continues. The gang gets transported to an alternate universe. Can they handle it? Can it handle them?
1. Chapter 1

Wolf and Leo: We're back with a new story! This one is the continuation of The Insanity Continues! We own nothing but the plot and ourselves, so enjoy!

Three years had now passed since that fateful summer in Ottawa. Meg and Katie were now twenty-two years old and well on their way to completing their degree. Their faithful band of crazies had added a new member almost two years ago now; Jeanne, formerly known as the Iron Maiden.

Yes, things had changed. Yoh and Hao had just graduated high school, they were 19 years old. Yoh was going into Ancient History at the university and Hao had found a passion for veterinary. The two of them were now about as tall as Seto, much to their girlfriends' annoyance.

Hao and Yoh took their responsibilities as Shaman Kings seriously. They were currently working on restoring the reefs and oceans to their former glory. They kept the process slow, they didn't want to draw too much attention. As it was, the news was calling this slow revitalization a miracle.

On the political side, Seto was working to push green technology and practices in corporation to aid the twins' efforts. He had a good spot in that world, so most were listening to what he had to say.

"They'll never learn if we just give these things to them outright." Hao always said. That was the reasoning behind not just flicking their fingers and creating a Utopia. Somehow, someday, someone would just pull it apart. They had to show the world how to live and why it was good. It would take time, but they were setting it in motion.

"Bo…Bo!" Katie yelled at the energetic black German shepherd. Mika had passed away last year and they had gotten the rambunctious puppy not long after. He was now six months old, and huge, hence the name Behemoth.

"Oof!" Bo ran straight into Hao. "This dog needs to come with brakes." Bo jumped up and licked his face before running off to challenge Jaz-Jaz to a wrestling match. Hao chuckled deeply and turned to Katie, kissing her lightly.

"Aww, would you quit with the mushy stuff." Bakura complained, his own lover, Ryou, in his lap. Hao raised an eyebrow pointedly. Bakura sniffed and busied himself teasing Ryou.

"So what are we doing tonight?" Jeanne asked from the couch. She had done her best to distance herself from her former 'holy girl' image. She had on a black t-shirt with a silver skull and crossbow on it, black, ripped jeans and a pair of black, star-covered converse. She had a tiny skull in her one ear, and a moon in the other. When she stretched herself out a wink of silver on her torso revealed the bellybutton piercing she had gotten not five months ago.

"Well squirt," Hao started. "We are going to watch movies, eat popcorn and drink pop until we explode. How does that sound?"

"Like a plan." Jeanne answered. "And quit calling me squirt!" Hao had basically become like a big brother to Jeanne. All the group considered her the little sister and could be fiercely protective of her, despite the fact that she could take care of herself.

The entire group consisted of couples. The members of the group were very serious in their relationships and so they lasted.

Yoh pulled Meg into his lap with a contented sigh. The rest of the group sat down with their respective lovers and waited for the movie to start. This was a Friday night ritual that had been honored since that first summer.

"Alright, let's get started." Yami called. The others echoed him excitedly. The TV was turned on and they settled down to watch.

All the sudden a faint buzzing sound made itself heard in the room. Everyone looked around in confusion, trying to figure out where it was coming from. Then, a great bright blue light surrounded all of them, blinding them momentarily.

With it came the sensation of falling and rushing towards something unseen. After what seemed like forever they landed with a faint thump. The light faded as they caught their breath and looked around they landed some sort of cavern from what they could see.

Everyone looked at each other. The lights nearly burst out laughing. Yugi and Yami landed next to each other, as did Seto and Joey, Mokuba on the other hand landed on Joey, his elbow landing in Joey's stomach knocking the breath out of him. Hao landed on his back with Katie in his arms. Ryou and Jeanne landed on their behinds on either side of Yami and Yugi, each with a dog in their lap, while Bakura landed on his stomach with Yoh sitting on his back with Meg in his arms.

"Get Off!!" Bakura shouted at the pair on his back

"Naah, I kinda like it here Bunny." Yoh said smiling patting the top of Bakura's head.

"I'M NOT A BUNNY! NOW GET THE F**K OFF ME!!!" Bakura shouted now wiggling under the pair trying to get out from underneath them.

"But Bunny, you're cushiony." Meg said moving out of Yoh's arms to sit on Bakura's upper back, facing Yoh who was sitting on his upper legs and behind, forcing Bakura back down to the rocky floor. Everyone was snickering at this, even Ryou found it amusing but also felt sorry for his boyfriend.

"All right you two get off, don't want Bunny getting any flatter than he is now." Said Yami chuckling, Meg pouted at him but they moved off Bakura all the same.

"What was that you baka pharaoh?!"

"Nothing" Yami said somewhat innocently, but with a big grin on his face.

"Where are we?" Mokuba asked over his giggling fit and stood up.

"I don't know." His older brother answered, eyes narrowed as he surveyed the room a little closer. Suddenly those blue eyes widened. "GET DOWN!" He roared, pulling Mokuba down on top of him as a blast of energy went over their heads. Yoh and Meg dove to the floor just barely missing the blast. It singed the ends of Meg's hair it was so close.

Instantly everyone was on their feet, all smiles gone and whatever power they possessed ready to go. Even Mokuba now had his own shadow beast; an electric blue striped, white tiger named Sol.

"Oh….gods." Hao moaned, his head going into his girlfriend's shoulder, who was standing next to him, when he saw who it was. "You guys tried to kill us before, it didn't work, remember?" He told the Patch, his head coming back up as they surrounded the group.

"Excuse me?" Silva sounded confused. "Who are you?" Hao blinked and stepped back.

"What?" Yoh asked, looking out at them all. All wore identical looks of confusion, even Goldva. "We're the Asakura twins. Hao and Yoh." He tried, it had been some time, they had grown, maybe they just didn't recognize them.

Not so, the frowns of confusion deepened.

"Hao and Yoh are younger than you two, and smaller." Goldva answered, eyes suspicious. Yoh and Hao always kept their furiochu hidden to not draw attention to themselves. They looked at each other, communicating in that silent, twin way that they had. They decided not to let them know, it would only cause more confusion.

"Smaller, does that mean we're in the past?" Joey murmured, absentmindedly rubbing his stomach.

"No, then the universe would have blown up." Jeanne answer

"How do you figure?" Bakura asked. Jeanne gave him an 'are-you-stupid' look.

"Paradox, Bunny. Doctor Who, remember?"

"IM NOT A BUNNY!" he growled

"I think she's right." Katie said. Bo and Jaz whined softly, sensing the tension in the room.

"But then, where are we?"

Wolf and Leo: dun dun dun!


	2. Chapter 2

Leo: sorry this as been taking so long to up date wolf has had some internet problems at home.

Wolf: It's true (sheepish grin)

Leo: we do not own Shaman King or Yugioh, all we own is the plot and ourselves!

Leo/Wolf: ENJOY!

* * *

Hao and Yoh each kissed their lovers briefly and stepped into the Great Spirit, letting it swallow them completely. The rest of them sighed and sat down.

"What is going on?" Katie looked over her shoulder to see that the Patch had followed them. The Crazies looked at each other and shrugged.

"The Great Spirit obviously wants to talk to the Shaman Kings." Seto said calmly. The Patch exchanged very confused looks.

"The Shaman King has not been chosen." Goldva said. Meg laced her fingers together.

"I have a theory." She said.

"So tell it." Bakura said lazily, laying down on his back and closing his eyes. The rest of the Crazies relaxed similarly. Bo chose to lay his head in Katie's lap and his rear on Jeanne's and Jaz sat on Joey.

"I think that we have landed in some kind of alternate universe."

"This isn't an episode of Doctor Who." Yami said skeptically. The girls, including Jeanne, gave him a look.

"Mister thousands-of-years-old pharaoh should not be talking about impossibilities." Jeanne said. "And besides, Katie and Meg came from another universe besides ours, why couldn't there be others?"

"She has a point." Seto said.

"Oh. My. God." Katie said in a tone of disbelief. "The biggest skeptic in the group actually believes in this." She threw up her hands. "Armageddon has come my friends."

"Hardee har har." Seto replied sarcastically.

"You're kidding, alternate universes, impossible." Silva scoffed. Meg and Katie just gave him a blank look.

Yoh and Hao re-emerged from the Great Spirit.

"It wants to talk to you." Hao told Goldva. Goldva nodded and went over to the Great Spirit.

"Well?" Yugi asked the twins.

"You're right, it is an alternate universe, about three years behind ours." Yoh said.

"So before we met you." Katie clarified.

"A few months after." Hao replied, leaning down to nuzzle her.

"Which means the Hao in this universe…"

"Still wants to take over the world." Hao nodded his head soberly.

"We're also not sure how to get us back to our own world." Yoh chewed on his lip. "We'll be working with this world's Great Spirit to try to find a way back, until then we're stuck."

"Story of our lives." Bakura grumbled. Goldva made his way back to them.

"The Great Spirit has informed me of the situation." He said. "These people are to stay here until they can figure out how to get back to where they came from." He turned to the Crazies. "We'll set you up with lodgings for now, it is late and I am sure you will wish to sleep." The teens nodded, although it would be a long time until their nerves stopped buzzing enough to let them sleep.

In another part of the Patch village, the next morning, a younger, less powerful Yoh Asakura woke up. He was excited for this day; it was the beginning of the second round of the tournament, postponed after that messy business with Hao.

Hao, the thought of his twin made Yoh flinch. He was sure the battle between them had not killed him; he was too powerful for that. Yoh was sure that he would turn up, and exact his revenge for Yoh stopping him from taking the Great Spirit.

His oracle pager beeped at him. He read the message there; all tournament participants were to meet in the arena at 8:00. Yoh looked at the clock; it was 7:30. His first thought was that they didn't exactly give them much time to get ready and get there. His second thought was that Anna had not woke him up like usual.

He didn't really mind, lately he had been feeling more and more tired, but wasn't sure why, and Faust could find nothing wrong with him either. Thinking that was strange he got into his battle outfit, thinking that he was going to need to get it in a bigger size soon; he was beginning to grow. He clattered downstairs, Harasume in his hand, Amidamaru hovering behind him, to meet his friends.

"So what do you think this is about?" Horohoro asked. "There are rumours the tournament's going to be a bit different this time." Yoh shrugged and merely grinned in that easy-going way of his.

"Whatever happens we'll get through it, right?" He answered. His friends nodded, reassured by Yoh's confidence. They walked down to the arena, which was already thronged with many shamans. Whispers started when Yoh walked by, many were in awe of his defeat of Hao those few months ago.

The stares made him uncomfortable, he didn't like being scrutinized or looked on with such awe; he had just done what needed to be done. Anna was already inside.

"It's about time you got here." She said peevishly.

"Do you have any idea of what's going on?" Yoh asked her. She shook her head, eyes narrowed. Everything quieted as Goldva stood up with a microphone.

"Good morning shamans, welcome back to the tournament." He said. "This time we are doing something a little different." He waited for the soft murmurs to die away. "The Great Spirit has chosen the teams for this round." A roar of confusion, anger and disbelief rose up. Goldva waited once more for it to die down before reading off the members of the new team.

Horohoro was paired with Ryu and some girl that they didn't recognise. Ren was paired with Mari and Kanna. Faust was with Lyserg and Marco.

"And finally, Yoh Asakura, Iron Maiden Jeanne, and…Hao Asakura." Silence reigned at the last name. Yoh was the only one not surprised, he'd had a feeling something like this would happen. He turned to watch his twin, with that familiar smirk plastered on his face, make his way towards him.

"You can't get rid of me that easily Yoh." Hao taunted.

"I never thought I could." Yoh said evenly back. He worked on keeping the mental barriers he had taught himself to make in place, keeping Hao out of his mind. A brief, annoyed frown crossed Hao's features, and then was gone, the smirk firmly back in place.

"The little girl did not come to greet us." He said idly. "Think she's afraid."

"I'm not sure that anything scares her." Yoh replied simply. Before either of them could say anything else, Anna marched up and grabbed Yoh by the ear.

"Come on Yoh, you have training to do." She told him and dragged him out of the arena. Hao followed, looking very amused.

"Hao-sama!" A voice called. Hao turned to see Big Guy Bill running towards them. He sported a lovely purple-black shiner around one eye.

"What happened to you?" Yoh gasped, then winced when Anna tugged on his ignored his question.

"Hao-sama, you need to come see this."

"What is it?" Hao demanded.

"I'm..not exactly sure."

* * *

Wolf and Leo: Review plz!


	3. Chapter 3

Wolf and Leo: We own nothing!

* * *

Big Guy Bill led Hao up over a nearby hill. Yoh followed curiously, despite muttered threats from Anna, who followed them.

"Well, what happened was we found the little Iron Maiden girl, at least, we thought it was her." Bill explained nervously. Hao nodded, waiting for him to continue. "There were three humans with her, a boy and two girls. Naturally we thought to get rid of them, only...It didn't go as planned." By this point they had made it to the top of the hill. They stared down at the strange scene below.

Zang-Ching and Blocken were fighting four figures...and getting their asses handed to them. The one creature was a nine-foot tall, white, wolf-like creature that stood on powerful hind legs, wearing a pale green kilt and brandishing a white wood staff. The others looked relatively human. The one was wearing black armour that looked like a dragon and hitting as hard as they could, and there was a black haired boy that was directing the white, blue-striped tiger at his side to attack.

But it was the final person that drew their attention. Big Guy Bill was right, at first glance it looked like the Iron Maiden. But the Iron Maiden did not wear a bright crimson halter top that showed off a neat slab of pale stomach, or black jeans that clung to her slim, curvy form. And her weapon......

"That looks like Matamune's Ogre Slayer." Yoh gasped. A flicker of surprise flitted across Hao's face, but was gone almost as soon as it came, tucked behind his cocky smirk.

"So you left the fight?" Hao asked idly. Bill gulped.

"The others asked me to go find you so you could see this for yourself." He replied nervously. "I'm going back in." He raised a hand and his team of dead football players lined up. He launched himself at the wolf-creature.

Shereha/Katie's ears pricked and she turned to see Bill and over twenty football players barrelling down at her. She merely grinned in a feral way and raised her staff.

"FREEZE!"

A flash of light erupted from the staff and when it died away Bill and his football team were completely encased in ice. She looked at her staff. "Huh, that packs quite a wallop." She swayed slightly, a light wave of dizziness washing over her. "Probably don't want to do that more than once in a fight." She muttered as she watched her friends finish pummelling the others.

"I think they'll think twice before going after a bunch of helpless-looking humans." Jeanne said, the huge sword at her side vanishing and becoming Matamune.

"Matamune!" The four Crazies turned at the sound of the voice and looked at the younger, shorter Yoh barrelling down the hill. Anna followed him, grumbling, while Hao made his way down, taking his own sweet time.

"What are you doing here?" Yoh asked Matamune wide-eyed, skidding to a halt in front of the small cat spirit.

"And what are you doing with _her?_" The younger Hao demanded. Matamune merely flicked an ear nonchalantly.

"There's no need for finger pointing, Hao-sama." He said calmly. "It is a long and very interesting story as to why I am here."

"Yep, and all that jazz." Shereha/Katie commented distractedly, watching her ice melt from around Big Guy Bill and his football team. "Woof, that really did pack a wallop."

"Yup! Just remind me not to make you mad I don't want to be pulling icicles out of my hair for an hour." Meg said with a smile, she waved her hand, letting her dragon armor dissolve back into Cheko's small form. The shamans stared in surprise at the small but lean, pony-tailed, brown-haired, grey-blue eyed girl that now stood in front of them. Shereha/Katie grinned and then Katie appeared to step out of Shereha. Shereha vanished with a snort.

"She loves me." Katie said, skipping over to the other girls. The shamans stared at this strange-looking character. She had blue eyes like Meg, but her brown hair had been buzzed to about two centimeters long. Jeanne laughed.

"If that's love then I'm a hippopotamus." She teased. Katie and Meg grinned.

"I don't know Jeannie." Meg said, looking over the younger girl. "You have gained a little."

"Yeah, like here." Katie said, poking her in one of her boobs.

"Or here!" Meg giggled, pinching her bottom.

"EEKK! Stop that." Jeanne laughed swatting playfully at her hand.

"Is anyone going to tell us what's going on?" Anna demanded. Meg opened her mouth, but was interrupted by a frantic bark. Mokuba, Jeanne, Katie and Meg turned as one to regard their two dogs that had been tied to a tree. Bo was straining at his leash and Jaz was lying down, giving the puppy dog eyes and whimpering softly. Katie sighed.

"Better let them off the leashes." Jeanne and Mokuba nodded and walked over to the dogs. Katie spread her bare feet and locked her knees, bracing herself. Bo was let off his leash and bolted straight at her. She let out a whoof as Bo crashed into her, rearing up on his hind legs and attempting to lick her to death.

"Ok, ok, Bo. I get it, you're happy, now please, please get off you dopey dog." Bo sat down in front of her, tongue lolling and head cocked to the side. Meg had received an equally exuberant, although less slobbery, greeting from Jaz. Once the dogs were assured that their mistresses were ok, they set about checking out the shamans.

"You didn't answer the question." Hao snarled, starting to get annoyed. "Who are you?"

Again, the Crazies were about to answer, when the young Yoh let out a startled yelp.

Anna and Hao followed his gaze and their eyes widened in surprise.

The older Hao and Yoh were walking towards them from the opposite hillside. The two of them appeared to be arguing and as they watched, older Yoh shoved older Hao. Hao shoved back and it quickly escalated into actual blows.

"Boys." Jeanne sighed. The fight took an interesting turn as Yoh managed to throw Hao to the ground and sat on his chest. He then bitch-slapped him across the face, got up, and continued walking as though nothing had happened while the Crazies burst into hysterical laughter.

The older Yoh got to Meg. She stopped laughing as he stooped down to capture her lips in a deep kiss. Anna gasped in surprise at the move and the younger Yoh's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.

"Ah, l'amore." Katie intoned, looking at her best friends with a grin as Meg and Yoh both flipped her off at the same time. She turned then to see her Hao walking towards her. His eyes met hers and became soft, looking at her with the expression that always made her heart leap.

She stood still as he came up to her. He cupped one hand in the small of her back, pulling her close, before leaning down to kiss her passionately. With Hao every kiss was to be savored, lasting, as though he were afraid to let go of any moments, to let go of her.

When they parted, the younger Hao, Yoh, Anna and Hao's minions were staring at them.

"What, never seen a guy kiss his girlfriend before?" Hao asked. His voice was a little deeper than his younger counterpart, but recognizable nonetheless. Hao's minions looked back and forth to the younger and older versions of Hao.

"She must be his whore." Blocken said, unwilling to believe any version of Hao would

go out with a human, even one with Katie's power.

"Excuse me?" Older Hao's eyes blazed hot, and he glared at Blocken. All Hao's minions took a step back; they knew how dangerous Hao was when he was mad, and this older Hao looked absolutely livid.

"Hao, it's not worth it, don't bother with them onii-chan." Yoh stared at the familiar term used by his older counterpart. Older Hao turned to stare at his brother. The two of them didn't say a word, but their friends knew they were communicating.

It had been discovered that Hao and Yoh were connected to each other. Energy flowed between them, and allowed them to communicate with each other and tap into each others' power. This was what allowed the two of them to become co-Shaman Kings.

The connection was sustained by emotion, in particular, love. If one of the twins would stop caring about each other, or one of them died, the other's energy would run out and they would die. It was uncertain as to whether their younger counterparts shared this connection or not.

The younger twins watched in surprise as Yoh's communication with Hao calmed him down visibly. His shoulders relaxed, and his fists unclenched. Slowly he sighed and his face relaxed into a smile.

"You're right, it's not." He agreed. "Ignorance should not be punished, rather corrected." He regarded the shamans calmly. "Katie is my partner, we are equals in this relationship." He said firmly. "Any more comments about her virtue..." Katie snorted.

"And you'll have to deal with me." She finished. "I really don't care what people think, but persistence annoys me, so be warned." She said, idly playing with a couple of shadow balls she had conjured. Hao's minions backed off, fully aware of what she and her friends were capable of.

"Oh, so they can learn, good." Meg said, cracking her knuckles, "Lets just hope it sticks, or it might get very messy around here." The shadows circled her gently as she finished and grinned.

"All right Meg put your toys away now, your scaring the boys." Katie said with a chuckle.

"You still haven't told us who you are." Anna demanded.

"You already know who we are, what you really want to know is how we're here." Older Hao replied.

"Ok, then how did you get here?" Young Yoh asked.

"We're not exactly sure, but we're from a parallel universe that's about three years ahead of this one." Meg said.

"Impossible." Young Hao said.

"Nothings imposable when you put your heart in it, the impossibility isn't the job its self but the view of the job. Don't let your eyes deceive what your heart already knows." Meg said wiggling her finger, "Some of us learned that one the hard way." She jerked a thumb at the older twins standing behind there respected girlfriends.

"Also our definition of impossible has changed for us over the last three years as well." Older Yoh replied.

"If you're from another universe, why don't you go back?" Anna asked rudely. Older Hao sighed.

"We don't know how."

* * *

Wolf and Leo: Review plz!!


	4. Chapter 4

Wolf and Leo: We own nothing!

"What do you mean?" Young Yoh asked.

"Well, we don't know how we got here in the first place-" Older Yoh started.

"-It wasn't anything we did-" Older Hao continued.

"-And working with the Great Spirit-"

"-Has given us no results." The older twins wore identical looks of frustration on their faces. Their audience stared at them in confusion. Young Yoh trained his eyes on the two studs in Older Hao's left ear, a star and a little diamond stud. Older Yoh had the exact same piercings in his right ear.

"Mirror images." He murmured aloud. Older Hao turned his gaze upon him and one side of his mouth quirked upward in a small smile.

"Not quite." He said simply but kindly. "We may look identical, but we're very different people." Young Hao snorted. Older Hao glanced down at him. "And what does that mean?"

"Yoh is your other half-"

"Doesn't mean that I can't be different." Older Yoh interrupted. "What we are never changes, who we are never stops changing."

"Yes, and that means that although Yoh may have started out as just a part of me, though experiences and life in general he has changed." Older Hao said. "We all change, and we all can change." He finished, looking down into his younger counterpart's eyes steadily, "it's just some people need a gentle push and a encouraging smile to help them on their way." He wrapped an arm around Katie, in which she snuggled closer into the embrace.

Young Hao found himself looking away from those eyes that knew him all too well.

"So, what are you going to do?" Young Yoh asked. Older Yoh and Hao shrugged.

"What we always do." They said in unison. Before they could say anything else though, Older Hao let out a shrill whistle making Older Yoh wince.

"Hey, you could have warned me." Older Yoh grumbled as he rubbed his ear. His brother merely grinned and ruffled his hair. The object of Older Hao's attention and whistle was Yugi and Yami taking a leisurely stroll.

"Hey you two, come on down here!" Meg called, waving at the two of them. Yugi and Yami wandered down the sloping hill to say hello. Anna's eyes narrowed at the sight of the two of them holding hands.

"Do you have a problem?" Yami growled softly, crimson eyes narrowed.

"I'd be careful about your answer Anna." Older Yoh stated calmly. "The Shadow Realm isn't a pleasant place."

Meg raised an eyebrow at her boyfriend, "and how would you know?" Yoh blushed

"I…uhhh…. " he gave a nervous chuckle

"Yoh…." Meg said warningly, crossing her arms.

"I was putting stuff away last weekend and I accidentally walked in on Bakura and Ryou doing it. Bakura sent me to the Shadow Realm for walking in on them, and left me there until Yami had to come and get me." Meg just shook her head chuckling quietly

"That's what you get for opening closed doors without knocking first. I told you were going to get it if you didn't quit doing that, guess you learned you lesson." Yoh just blushed, getting snickers from their group and a glare from Bakura who had his arms wrapped around a blushing Ryou.

"What's the Shadow Realm?" Young Yoh asked curiously.

"It's...hard to describe." Yugi said softly. "It's where our spirit beasts live, but it's also the place where people get sent to be punished for their evils if need be."

"Lovely in the summertime." Katie added cheerily. Anna looked at her like she was insane. Katie and Meg gave her looks back that told her that she was totally correct.

"There's a lake nearby, the rest of us were planning to go swimming." Yami said to his friends after his blush died down.

"We're coming!" Jeanne crowed, bouncing on the balls of her feet. The others nodded and began to wander away from the young twins and Anna.

"Hey!" Anna snapped. "I'm not done with you yet!" Older Hao just smirked at her and yelled

"You are now!" and followed his girlfriend up the hill leaving a glaring Anna behind. Older Yoh followed for a moment, and then paused.

He whispered something in Meg's ear, that she nodded her head at and stood at the top of the hill, as he made his way back down to his younger counterpart and stared down into his eyes. Young Yoh stared up into dark eyes that were at once achingly familiar yet completely foreign. The gentleness was his, but the deep pain hidden deep was not, there was also another emotion that he could pick up that he wasn't quite sure what it was.

Older Yoh's eyes picked up the tiredness in Young Yoh's eyes, and also the stress. Stress from trying to live up to everyone's expectations, and feeling that he was failing miserably. Young Yoh kept that well hidden though, but not the tiredness. The tiredness was in the slump of his shoulders, the dark circles around his eyes, the too-thin torso, everywhere.

"Be careful." Older Yoh told Young Yoh softly, before turning and re-climbing the hill, and taking Meg's out stretched hand. They turned to look at him once, before continuing on their way out of sight holding hands.

%&%&%&%

That night there was a formal dinner. Everyone was to attend, and that included the Crazies, much to their dismay.

The tables set up in a large banquet hall had seating plans attached to them, some having to do with the teams, others not, which was why Young Hao, Yoh and Jeanne wound up at the same table.

"No, you must be kidding." Marco growled when he saw Young Hao sitting at the table he was leading the Iron Maiden to. "I'm going to sort this out." He walked away while the Iron Maiden sat down at the table, glaring at Hao.

"Ooh, does Marco have a bee up his butt again?" Katie wandered up to the table with a huge smile on her face. She was wearing a simple crimson silk, sleeveless, scoop-necked gown that hugged the hips just slightly, but flared out gently around the legs. Silver eye shadow made her eyes seem darker than normal.

"Well, don't you look almost pretty?" Anna sat down at the table next to Young Yoh. Katie gave her a mocking grin as she carefully sat down too.

"I could say the same to you Anna." She replied, just as mockingly.

"Who's this?" Lyserg asked as he too sat down at the table, trying to ignore Hao smirking at him.

"Her name is Katie." Young Yoh said.

"Isn't it a little dangerous to put her here with him?" Lyserg whispered, jerking his head towards Hao.

"She can handle her own." The deep, strangely familiar voice made Lyserg look up and utter a small, strangled gurgle.

Older Hao sat down next to Katie in a black suit with a crimson silk shirt, the first two buttons undone.

"What is this?" The Iron Maiden demanded, staring back and forth between the two Haos. Marco had also come back and his jaw dropped.

"You!" He snarled.

"The ghost of Christmas past." Older Hao quoted.

"That's from V for Vendetta, isn't it?" Young Yoh asked, cocking his head at Older Hao, noticing that he had taken out the earrings.

"It is." Older Yoh wandered over to the table with Meg next to him. Meg was wearing a dress similar to Katie's except in a dark blue. Yoh matched her in a blue silk shirt and a black suit. Meg's hair was curled and blue shadow accentuated her large blue eyes. Older Hao grinned mischievously at her.

"Don't you look lovely tonight?" He said teasingly. Meg turned to look at him, she wasn't wearing her glasses either, with a frosty glare.

"Don't make me castrate you." She said tightly. Meg had a definite thing against dresses. Her boyfriend nuzzled her gently.

"But you do look lovely, and it's only for a little while." He murmured. Meg blushed lightly, then kissed him gently on the lips,

"But it doesn't mean I have to like it." She murmured grinning Anna glared at the two of them, but neither seemed to notice.

"Aww, how cute." Jeanne and Mokuba also sat down. Jeanne was wearing a strapless black gown that hugged her curves. Smoky grey eye shadow made her rose-coloured eyes smoulder and a shade of deep red made her lips pop out.

"That is not appropriate dress young lady!" Marco sputtered, accepting that this was going to be a day of weirdness and that he should just go with it. Jeanne responded with a suggestion that made even Young Hao's jaw drop.

Marco's mouth opened and closed and his face grew beet red.

"I think he's going to pop." Mokuba commented.

"Ooh, dinner and a show." Older Hao grinned and leaned back. The table was now full with twelve people. Unfortunately they had not been able to get a table with just the Crazies, but it looked like all the couples were together, so it was alright. And besides, dinner was looking a lot more interesting already.

Leo: (glares at wolf)

Wolf: (looks at leo) what's your problem?

Leo: (glares) you put me in a dress.

Wolf: (looks innocent) but you look nice in a dress.

Leo: (glares more) you know how I feel about dresses.

Wolf: uhhh I think I better run (runs away)

Leo: (smiles at readers) review please! (chases after Wolf) GET BACK HERE!


	5. Chapter 5

Wolf and Leo: We own nothing!

"So you joined Hao then." Marco accused. Older Yoh looked up from nuzzling Meg again and just blinked at him. Older Hao on the other hand guffawed happily.

"You got it wrong, I joined them." He said, placing one of his large, graceful hands over Katie's small one.

"Why would you do that?" Anna asked suspiciously. "Especially with a bunch of humans."

Marco opened his mouth to say something but was interrupted by Katie.

"If you are about to call me a whore or insinuate that I am a whore I would advise against it." She said quietly. "I've already had to deal with such ignorance today and will be extremely pissed off if I have to again." She punctuated this by letting the shadows take over her eyes and turn them jet black for an instant.

Fortunately Marco was smart enough not to antagonize the girls further. Meg squirmed a little in her seat, an annoyed look on her face.

"The first chance I get, I am taking this dress off." She muttered.

"Not if your boyfriend takes it off first." Older Hao teased. His brother calmly reached over and flicked him on the ear, hard. Older Hao yelped and glared at his brother, who merely grinned at him. The girls sighed in exasperation.

"They do this a lot." Jeanne explained, rolling her eyes. "Typical male bonding, gotta kick the shit out of each other instead of just saying 'I love you man'" She shook her head. "Men are morons."

"Hey!" The twins cried, looking up from their staring match with identical looks of wounded innocence. Their friends chuckled at them.

"Yes, nothing says I love you like a punch in the head." Katie said sarcastically. Her boyfriend chuckled and leaned down to kiss her on the lips. The movement made Marco start sputtering again.

"You will suffer for your sins." The Iron Maiden commented calmly.

"Oh, get a life." Jeanne responded, rolling her eyes. "You are missing out on sooo much." The Iron Maiden gave her a disdainful look.

"I will not stray to the path of evil."

"What evil? How are roller coasters, paintball fights, movies late at night and pigging on popcorn evil?" Jeanne asked.

"Or kisses in the rain, sleeping in all cuddled up together, or watching fireflies at night?" Meg continued, leaning up against Yoh and closing her eyes.

"You're stuck in time, little girl, you have no idea what life really can be." Older Hao said in a gentle tone. He then looked up as a band began playing a soft waltz. He stood up gracefully and offered a hand to Katie.

"May I have this dance?" Katie took his hand and was led onto the dance floor. Meg and Yoh followed.

"I meant what I said earlier." Yoh murmured as he danced with Meg. "You look absolutely gorgeous tonight." Meg blushed and hid her face against his chest. "Why don't we get some air?" Meg nodded, face still hot and Yoh led her away from the dance floor, to an open terrace.

Meg looked up at the silvery moon as Yoh wrapped his arms around her from behind.

"We've been together for two years now." He whispered huskily in her ear.

"Two wonderful years." Meg replied empathetically. Yoh laughed quietly.

"Were they really that wonderful?" Meg turned to Yoh with a surprised look on her face.

"Of course they were!" She cried. "You know, you're the only guy I think I could ever trust to get this close to me." Yoh smiled. He took her hands and got down on one knee.

"Then, will you be willing to spend the rest of your life with me?" he asked. Meg's eyes grew wide.

"Yoh, are you...you want...?" Yoh took a small velvet box out of his pocket and opened it, revealing the sapphire ring inside.

"Meg, will you marry me?"

Meg's wide eyes widen further and then fill with tears. She threw herself on Yoh, kissing him fiercely.

"Yes, yes of course I will!" She cried, before being pulled into another passionate, loving kiss.

%&%&%&%

At the same time, Katie and Hao were watching the stars from another terrace.

"You know being here makes me think of how lucky I was to find you." Hao sighed. Katie smiled at him.

"I think the feeling is mutual." She replied, eyes dancing happily.

"You are the best thing that has ever happened to me, and that's why," He got down on one knee, pulling out a small box and opening it to reveal the sapphire ring. "Will you marry me?" He asked the thunderstruck Katie. She stared at him, frozen, for a moment before a huge, euphoric grin crossed her face.

"Yes, yes, a thousand times yes!"

%&%&%&%

Jeanne tapped her fingers across her plate and then looked back to stick her tongue out at Bakura at the other table.

"So, who's all here?" Young Yoh asked, trying to break the awkward silence. "I mean, who all came with you?"

"Well, you met Hao, Yoh, Katie and Meg." Jeanne said. "Then there's them." She said, pointing at the table with their other friends. "That's Joey and Seto, Yugi and Yami, and Ryou and Bunny."

"NOT A BUNNY!" came Bakura's bellow.

"Yes you are. Why would we call you that if you weren't one?" said Ryou said sweetly from his lap, twirling a lock of white hair between his fingers. Bakura just kissed him getting cat calls from Jeanne and several others. Bakura just stuck his tongue out at them.

Jeanne just gave him the finger in return and turned back to the table.

"And they're all couples?" Anna asked. Mokuba nodded.

"Disgraceful." Marco muttered. Jeanne glared and opened her mouth to say something, but was distracted by Hao and Katie, and Yoh and Meg coming back to the table. She looked at Katie and Meg's euphoric faces and her eyes widened.

"Oh. My. God. They didn't!" She squealed.

"Didn't what?" Older Hao asked innocently.

"You popped the question, didn't you?"

"I don't know what you're talking about squirt." Jeanne punched him lightly on the arm.

"What on earth are you yammering about?" Young Hao asked taking a drink from his glass.

"The twins proposed!" Jeanne cooed happily. "They're getting married!" The whole table turned to stare at the two couples while Hao sat up quickly and his drink was sprayed back into his glass,

"What Now?"

That got chuckles from the rest of the table. Jeanne shook her head grinning "I said the twins are getting married! And it's about time too." The Hao and Yoh just blushed, while everyone else just snickered.

"Congratulations." Young Yoh said. Older Hao and Yoh beamed and kissed their fiancés. Young Yoh then pushed his still half-full plate away from himself. Anna zeroed in on it eyes narrowed.

"Why aren't you eating?" Young Yoh shrugged.

"Guess I'm not that hungry." Older Hao and Yoh's head snapped up to stare at him. Meg and Katie also looked at each other.

((Yoh's not hungry?))

)) That seems a little disturbing ((

((I know what you mean))

)) Wonder if it has to do with... ((

((Maybe….))

"Ooh, we need to go celebrate." Jeanne interrupted, practically bouncing out of her seat in excitement. "And I mean our way." Older Hao grinned.

"Sounds good to me, get the other guys will you squirt?" Jeanne punched him again then walked over to whisper in Yami's ear.

"It's been real, but we got to bounce." Older Yoh said, eyes dancing. He looked down at his younger counterpart. "Take care of yourself." Young Yoh nodded and watched the Crazies practically run out of the room, the girls only stopping to dump their high heels in the fountain. Jeanne shook her head and picked up the pairs of shoes on her way out the door muttering with a grin,

"These could come in handy……"

Leo: O_O

Wolf: O_O

Yami: (peeks in) you two alright? I usually hear screaming by now.

Leo: (shakes head to clear it) we're ok got a little author shock. (pokes wolf)

Wolf: (jumps) hey what was that for?

Leo: (snickers)

Yami: (shakes head) you were so deep into author shock, that Leo poked you.

Wolf: (looks at Leo and grins) Yoh proposed! Yoh proposed!

Leo: (deep blush) yea, so? So did Hao.

Wolf: (deep blush)

Yami: (thinks) you know what? You two have to right a proposal night, a wedding night, and a honeymoon night now you know that right? Hey I'm a poet!

Leo/ Wolf: (BLUSH) (looks at each other and grins) GET HIM!

Yami: (pales) oh dear….. running now. (takes off with duo authors running after him)

Yugi: (peeks in and shakes his head) he really needs to keep his mouth shut. (sighs and turns to readers) review please! Leo and Wolf would be most appreciative with your feed back. Now to save my boyfriend..…(sees Yami cornered by Leo holding rope the other holding duck tape) oh dear……. (run's off to get help)


	6. Chapter 6

Wolf and Leo: We own nothing!

* * *

Anna prowled the halls of their little temporary home. It was six o'clock in the morning. She slammed open the door to Yoh's room and shrieked

"GET UP!" The affect on Yoh was instantaneous. He shot up out of bed like he'd been shot. Anna glared at him and then left to wake the other boys.

Yoh hurried to get dressed and downstairs. As he bent down to put on his pants a wave of vertigo overcame him and he reached out to steady himself, leaning on the wall and breathing heavily.

This was starting to scare him, these weak dizzy spells. He was so tired lately and got dizzy easily. He had no idea what was happening to him. He had even gotten checked by Faust, there wasn't anything that he could find, and Anna thought he was just being stupid again.

Yoh trudged downstairs to find his friends already there.

"You ok, dude?" Horohoro asked, looking at Yoh's haggard face. Yoh mustered a smile for his concerned friends.

"Yeah, I'm fine." He said, although he felt anything but.

He only managed to eat half his breakfast. In addition to the weakness he had also lost his appetite for the most part. In Yoh's mind this was worse than the tiredness, because he loved to eat. He had gotten so thin by this point that he was starting to see his ribs through the skin, and yet he just couldn't force down the food he needed.

He and his friends went outside, following Anna, to find the rest of Yoh's family waiting for them.

"What are you doing here?" Yoh asked in confusion.

"Anna informed us of the…situation." Yohmei replied. Yoh blinked.

"The situation?"

"The one with this new Yoh and Hao." Mikihisa clarified. "We want to evaluate how much of a threat they really are."

"I really don't think they are a threat." Yoh commented as they continued to walk to their training. "I think they just want to go home." His parents and grandparents said nothing.

When they got to the clearing where they normally trained they got a surprise. All the Crazies, including the two dogs, were sprawled out, asleep in the grass in front of a projector attached to a laptop and an improved screen made of a white tarp carefully roped in place using the trees. DVD boxes, pop cans and chip bags were scattered about.

"What is this?" Mikihisa asked, padding over to Older Yoh and Meg, who were curled up together. He poked Older Yoh in the side with his foot.

Immediately Older Yoh's eyes popped open and his hand shot out, grasping Mikihisa's ankle and yanking. Mikihisa fell to the ground with a yell and a thud.

Instantly all the Crazies were awake and on their feet, powers ready for any kind of fight. Jaz stood in front of Meg with hackles raised and teeth bared. Bo just yelped happily and spun around in crazy circles in his excitement. When they saw who it was they relaxed.

"Oh it's you again." Meg said dismissively, she petted Jaz-Jaz to calm her down, then let out a yawn as the crazy's sat back down, the adrenalin from the scare gone.

"And I was having such a nice dream too." Seto muttered.

"Did it have anything to do with puppy pudding?" Jeanne inquired, looking over at him with wide, innocent eyes. Seto went beet red. Jeanne cackled merrily at the look on his face, getting snickers from every one else except Joey who also went red hiding his face in Seto's shoulder.

"What are you all doing out here?" Ren asked, moving forward cautiously. All the shamans were curious about the tall, older version of their friend, and Hao as well.

"Having fun our way." Yugi shrugged pulling Meg into his lap which he got smacked over the head for.

"We decided to forgo truth-or-dare because that can get very R-rated very fast…" Meg supplied but was interrupted by Yoh's hands slipping up the back of her shirt making her jump.

"Yep" Yoh agreed grinning mischievously, "very fast"

"Yoh of you don't stop that right now you won't have any for the next week, so behave." Yoh pouted but pulled his hands out of her shirt all the same to rap them around her waist. Meg sighed turned back to the others who was looking at them with raised eyebrows.

"So," Katie finished as she swatted Hao's hands away from her own shirt tail, "We decided that the movies seemed like a safer option."

Yoh's friends had all edged closer and were ogling Older Yoh. Yoh looked up at them with a gentle smile, but Young Yoh could see dark sorrow in his eyes. He wondered once more what had happened to him.

Suddenly Yoh's mother moved forwards to stand in front of Older Yoh who gently set his fiancé on the ground and stood up.

"Keiko! Come away!" Yohmei ordered. Keiko didn't listen, instead reaching out to touch the older Yoh's face. Older Yoh's body went entirely stiff and he stared down at the woman who would have been his mother in this world.

"Your mother must be so proud of you." Keiko breathed. "You've grown into a fine man."

A sad smile that didn't touch his eyes crept up Older Yoh's face.

"I don't think she even knows that I'm still alive." He said in a husky whisper, tears pricking his eyes. Suddenly he whirled and ran out of the clearing. Meg went to follow him, but Hao stopped her.

"I'll go." He said softly. Meg nodded and Hao got up and jogged after his brother. Katie sighed.

"Guess we'd better clean up." She said standing . The rest of them nodded and also stood, usual craziness gone.

"What was that all about?" Kino asked.

"That's for them to tell you, not us." Ryou replied, picking up some of the cans lying around while Bakura ogled his ass.

Anna grabbed Young Yoh.

"Come on, we'll find somewhere else to train." Then Anna, quite literally, dragged the boys away.

* * *

Yoh looked up from his training at one point to find the older twins on the sidelines, watching them. He gave them a small wave and they smiled back at him. Then Anna yelled at him and he had to concentrate again.

Yoh shivered slightly. It was strange, it was hot out and he was working up a sweat, but he still felt cold. He felt a wave of dizziness wash over him. He ignored it, trying to concentrate on the mock-battle he was having with Ren.

All the sudden the world spun and he felt himself tip forward. His friends moved forward to catch him as he fell, but the older twins got there first. Older Hao steadied him and lowered him to the ground as Older Yoh inspected him.

Young Yoh panted weakly. He felt so tired, and his limbs were so heavy.

"What's happened to him?" Manta asked worriedly. Older Yoh finished his inspection and placed his hands on Young Yoh's chest.

"This is going to feel funny, but it should also make you feel better, ok?" He said gently. Young Yoh nodded then Older Yoh closed his eyes.

Suddenly Young Yoh felt a jolt of power and then a surge of pure energy go through him. He yelped and sat up, completely energized.

"Feel better?" Older Hao asked.

"Great!" Young Yoh exclaimed. The older twins nodded.

"I don't know how long the energy will last though." Older Yoh said quietly. "We need to speak to you." He looked up at the others. "Alone."

Anna opened his mouth to protest, but Young Yoh nodded his head quickly.

"Ok, I'll go with you." The older twins nodded and led him away.

* * *

Leo/ Wolf: REVIEW PLEASE!


	7. Chapter 7

Wolf and Leo: Own nothing!

"What's wrong with me?" Young Yoh asked when they were alone. The older twins blinked at him. "I have a fainting spell in the middle of practice and you know exactly what to do. You know something, I'm not stupid- "He was cut off by Older Hao placing a finger over his mouth gently.

"We know." He said softly. "We were just trying to find the best way to explain this." The older twins sat down on the grass. Young Yoh studied them, noticing the way they brushed against each other randomly, seeming to need some sort of contact with one another. His heart ached for what they had.

"When did the weak spells start?" Older Yoh finally asked.

"It was just after the last round of the Shaman King tournament." The older twins closed their eyes at his reply. Neither of them said a word, but Young Yoh got the feeling they were communicating somehow.

"We suspected as much." Older Hao sighed after a moment.

"What? What is it?" Young Yoh asked.

"Patience, it will take some explaining." Older Yoh said with a smile. "I'm sure you've noticed that we don't actually have to talk out loud in order to speak to one another, yes?"

"Yeah….."

"Well, that is because of a special connection between the two of us." Older Hao explained. "Between the two of us is a connection that cycles energy between our two bodies. The cycle is kept in place by emotion, can you guess which one?"

"Love?"

"Yes." Older Yoh said approvingly nodding his head. "But this can create a problem. If one person, in the connection, does not feel for the other their part of the connection, that cycles the energy back to the other, breaks and then the expelled energy just flows out into the world, instead of making its way back into the other, where it belongs."

"When this happens, the person who does care is being sapped of their energy." Older Hao continued.

"That's what's happening to me, isn't it?" Young Yoh shook his head slightly as the older twins nodded gravely. "But why didn't it happen sooner? I've cared about Hao for longer than that."

"It has to do with Hao absorbing your soul." Young Yoh flinched at the awful memory of that experience. Older Yoh gave him a sympathetic look and continued.

"Your very souls were exposed to each other, and unconsciously, your souls reached out for each other, seeking to establish that connection."

"For you it settled, but for Hao..." Older Hao paused. "Almost immediately his soul would have severed the connection. He doesn't want to care about you, so he refuses to let himself, but the connection has been established on your part."

"So what happens now?" The older twins' eyes grew sad.

"You're dying." Silence met the twins' soft words. Young Yoh felt frozen, unable to comprehend what they had just said, he felt his knees go week and he sat heavily on the ground. The twins watched him worriedly. Finally his lips move woodenly.

"And Hao….."

"He'll die too, but not until after you die." Older Hao sighed and rubbed his head. "You see, the energy cycle sustains the two of you, once it's in place, you need it to survive.

"Right now Hao is receiving energy from you, but you are not getting it cycling back, you're being drained." Older Yoh explained. "When you die, Hao will not receive any more energy, and slowly drain of what he has left, like you're doing now."

"So, he'll die the same way as I am?" The older twins nodded. "That's awful!" The twins raised an eyebrow at him. "I mean, he's just going to deteriorate?" The twins nodded. "Then who will take care of him?" Young Yoh asked in a whisper. "Who will stay by him until the end? Certainly not his followers….."

His sentence ran off in surprise when the twins just softly smiled at him.

"What?" he asked. Older Hao reached out and ruffled his hair.

"Just, never be anyone but you, understand? Be you and every thing else will fall into place."

%&%&%&%

Meanwhile Young Hao had wandered over to where Anna was directing the other boys in their training still.

"Where's Yoh?" He called, making the boys flinch. Anna merely sauntered over, after yelling at them to keep going of course. She told him what had happened earlier.

"He'd better not screw up our matches." Hao simply said when she was done. Anna nodded and gave him a sidelong glance.

"I'm beginning to think that he really isn't the best candidate for Shaman King." She told him. Hao huffed.

"Just as I have been saying all along." He replied.

"I think we need someone _stronger_ to win that title." She murmured. "Someone who's not such a lazy nuisance."

She then turned and went back to the boys, yelling at them. Hao smirked at the sight.

"You are aware that she was flirting with you." Hao half-turned at the sound of the voice to find Katie and Meg watching him, each with a dog's leash in their hand, with raised eyebrows. He snorted derisively.

"Seriously." Meg said. "That girl was laying it on thick. I haven't seen that kind of disgusting display since the demonic bitch hoe-bag was hitting on poor Yami." Hao raised his own eyebrow.

"Long story." Katie said, and then was nearly wrenched off her feet as Bo spotted a squirrel and tried to go after it. Jaz-Jaz saw what he was barking at and joined in, jumping up in the air and tugging at the leash.

Hao watched the two of them struggling with their dogs in amusement. After a couple minutes they'd gotten the two beasts calmed down. Meg saw his smirk and scowled.

"What?" She snarled.

"Typical human." was all that Hao said. Meg's eyes narrowed.

"Hey, let me tell you something, just because you have some fancy powers, doesn't make you any more, or less, human than the rest of us." Hao didn't like that. His face dropped in a scowl and his eyes burned.

"Do not compare me to your kind." He spat. "Shamans are far superior to humans. We are in tune with the world, know the value of life…"

"Then why do you kill?" Katie interrupted. Her voice was quiet, but almost a whisper, but Hao flinched as though she'd yelled.

"You wouldn't understand." He said condescendingly. Meg opened her mouth but Katie shot her a look.

((Meg, please let me handle this))

As much as she loved Meg, Katie felt that her temper would get in the way in this situation. Last time they'd had to deal with Hao like this, he was already unsure and confused because of Yoh saving his life. This Hao had none of that experience, and so was more dangerous, and less easy to get through.

Meg looked into Katie's worried eyes, saw the thoughts behind them, she took a deep breath and then nodded.

"Then explain it to me." Katie said to Hao quietly. "I'm fairly intelligent, make me understand." She stared into his dark eyes. He felt as though she was searching for something inside him. The two of them stared each other down. Katie's eyes flicked to the clearing where the boys were training for an instant, and then back to him.

"Where's Yoh?" She asked.

"Why would I know?" She smiled.

"You know everything, don't you?" There was a slight note of mischief in her voice. Hao bristled. He curtly explained what Anna had told him. He was surprised to see a soft, sad look steal over both the girls' faces.

"Oh, that's not good." Meg said frowning.

"What's going on?" Hao demanded. "You know something."

"If you want to know, ask your brother." Katie replied. She shook her head slightly, looking at him with gentle eyes. "It's like turning back the clock, looking at you." She murmured. "I see my Hao in you." She said tenderly. Hao growled.

"That soft-hearted buffoon is nothing like me."

"Once upon a time, he was." Katie replied softly. Hao paused, her words sinking in. She and Meg turned to go. "One more question."

"What's that?" Hao asked frostily.

"Does this life that you lead make you truly happy…"

"Or does it show how lost you really are?" Meg finished in a whisper that Hao barley herd, with a sad look in her eye.

He stared at them, unable to follow what they had just said. He could only stare at their retreating backs as both of them continued on their walk.

Leo: ohhhhh, so that's what you meant.

Wolf: YEP!

Leo: I see…

Wolf: review please!


	8. Chapter 8

Wolf and Leo: Own nothing! Oh, and from now on the older twins are just Hao and Yoh.

Young Hao prowled around the Patch village, trying to shake the two human girls' words out of his head. He could still feel their searching gaze on him, even now. It unsettled him deeply, and he hated them for it. Or did he?

A smirk formed on his face as he saw the Iron Maiden and her lapdog, Marco, walking towards him. He sauntered over to them.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't my new teammate." He said condescendingly. The Iron Maiden merely glared balefully at him.

"Though I may be forced to fight with you now, make no mistake that justice will be served to you." Hao merely snorted.

"You need to get a new hobby." He taunted. "Your power couldn't defeat me before, why would it now?"

"Don't you dare speak to my Lady that way!" Marco snarled. "She will be the Shaman Queen, and when she is, all will bow before her holiness."

Hao snorted again and laughed nastily. The Iron Maiden and Marco walked on, annoyed when Hao decided to keep in step. They walked into a small cafe.

Everyone in the cafe seemed to be avoiding one table in particular, where a tall man, face hidden by a newspaper, was sitting. Young Hao had a feeling he knew who it was. He marched over and coughed to get the man's attention.

The paper slowly was lowered and Hao gazed at him through his red-framed glasses.

"Can I help you?" He asked in a slow, lazy voice.

"What are you doing here?" Marco demanded. Hao shrugged lazily.

"Free country, isn't it?" He turned back to the paper.

"Is he being rude again?" Another voice asked. The shamans looked up to see Yoh walking over with a small plate of cookies. "Hao, where are your manners?" He admonished playfully.

"Dead and gone." Hao replied before stuffing a whole cookie in his mouth.

"I can see that." His brother drawled. "You know, there's this great new concept called chewing." Hao huffed and reached for another cookie.

"Hmph, this doppelganger is like a declawed and toothless tiger." Marco sneered. "No bite."

"What does he need it for?" Yoh asked with a raised brow. "When you've got enough for two?" His brother snickered and high-fived him.

"Why don't you all sit down, if you're going to stick around." Hao offered, taking yet another cookie. His brother watched him, eyebrows raised. As Young Hao, the Iron Maiden and Marco sat down, Yoh pulled the plate of cookies away from his brother.

Just then the door of the cafe slammed open and a large, bouncing black shape hurtled in and threw itself at Hao. Bo jumped up on him and sat down in his lap. Hao grunted at the weight and then burst into hysterical, laugh-until-you-cry laughter and after half a second Yoh joined him.

"Ok Bo, please get off me now." Hao chuckled, shoving the big dog off of him. Immediately Katie's warm weight settled in the same place. Katie was giggling at something and so was Meg as she took her place in Yoh's lap. Katie just smiled up at him and pecked him on the lips.

"Well, hello stranger." Yoh teased as Meg took her place in his lap. She mock-glared at him and then pecked him on the lips. "What's so funny?"

"Oh, Bunny's trying to be his old self again." Meg snickered, getting chuckles from the crazies and confused looks from the shaman.

"Bunny?" asked Young Hao "Who's Bunny?"

"And what do you mean by his old self?" asked the Iron Maiden, raising an eyebrow.

"Bunny is Bakura's nick name that we gave him," Meg explained to them, "Bakura is the taller white haired boy that came with us."

"And what we mean by his old self is Bakura used to be a tomb robber in ancient Egypt, he also liked to scare people with his shadow monsters to get things," Katie supplied, "don't ask for an explanation it's a long story."

"Any way," Meg continued, "Bunny or Bakura for those who are slow" she glanced at Marco getting snickers from the others, "tried to scare one of the officials with his necromancer, but he ended up scaring Ryou as he came out of the store. He now has a seal on his shadow magic that only Ryou has the key for and he's on the couch for two months."

All the crazies burst out laughing at this. Hao wiped a tear away coming from his eye, " I told him to stop that, I knew it was going to bite him in the but sooner or later." He chuckled, "I guess it was sooner."

The shaman just looked at each other worriedly, except Young Hao who had a thought full look on his face.

"So what were you speaking to my brother about earlier?" Young Hao asked as his older counterpart tried to snatch Katie's cookie away from her only to get his wrist slapped.

"Sorry, what was that?" Young Hao rolled his eyes in disgust, repeating the question.

"That is not for us to tell," Yoh informed him, pushing the plate of cookies away from the dogs' snuffling noses "but for you to find out."

"Funny, that's what your girlfriends said." Young Hao commented. Hao stared into his eyes.

"What else did they say?" He asked, almost idly. Young Hao looked away from that knowing gaze.

"Nothing" He answered sullenly. Hao huffed softly in knowing laughter and leaned in close.

"Can't avoid your feelings forever," He whispered so that only Young Hao could hear. "One day they're going to catch up to you, and you'll have no idea of what to do with yourself then." Young Hao pulled away from him with a look of irritation.

"What's with the glasses?" He asked with a sneer. Hao took them off and carefully wiped them clean with his red T-shirt.

"They're for reading." He explained calmly. "If I am correct, you'll need them too in a year or so." Young Hao just snorted.

"You'll want them if you want to be able to see anything close to your face." Yoh said, shrugging his shoulders. "Personally I think it would look sillier for you to have to have a paper, or a book or whatever pressed to your nose and having to squint at it to see, rather than have glasses."

The door of the cafe opened again and Mokuba and Jeanne bounced in, soaking wet.

"What have you two been up to?" Hao asked with a suggestive eyebrow wriggle. Jeanne gave him a suggestive little smile in return. The Crazies roared with while Marco just looked horrified.

"Anything interesting happen with you guys?" Mokuba asked, ignoring the glare he was getting from Marco.

"We'll tell you later." The twins said.

"What about you two?" Jeanne asked Meg and Katie.

"We saw Anna hitting on Hao." Meg replied. Jeanne's eyes grew wide.

"OUR Hao?" She gasped.

"Oh hell no." Katie growled. "If she hit on my Hao, I'd drop-kick her into next millennium."

"I'd help." Meg added, reaching back to play with Yoh's hair absentmindedly. "That girl pissed me off since day one." Katie made a soft humming noise in agreement and then leaned her head back against Hao's chest while he rested his chin on her head with a sigh.

"Disgusting." Marco growled. Hao merely gazed back at him benignly. Suddenly his gaze was diverted as he watched a small, black girl with a big afro making her way towards their table.

She stopped in front of Hao and gazed up in awe.

"Big Hao." She finally. Hao's deep belly laugh bubbled out of his throat again. Young Hao found himself thinking that this older version of himself laughed a lot, and for no reason it seemed.

"It's the Cocoa Puff!" Meg exclaimed happily.

"Opacho isn't a cocoa puff." Opacho replied with a furrowed brow.

"Meg's just being silly, honey." Katie told her. "Bo, no!" She yelled at the curious pup, who had decided that Opacho's hair looked like fun to eat. Bo sat back innocently, and then sniffed Opacho's hair once. Katie glared at him and he yawned and lay down with a woe-be-gone sigh.

"Crazy dog." Hao said, affectionately rubbing his head with one bare foot. All the Crazies were barefoot.

Then the Axel F song went off. Hao jerked and grabbed his phone out of his pocket.

"Hello?" He paused. "Of course we do." He turned to the others. "You would want to go hiking on some of the cliffside trails, wouldn't you?"

"Does a bear shit in the woods?" Katie asked. Hao laughed and told whoever was on the other end that they were coming.

"Well, nice seeing you again." Yoh said as they stood up to go. As Young Hao watched his older counterpart and Yoh sling their arms around each others' shoulders and take their girlfriends' hands, he felt the greatest sense of discontent well up inside him.

_What the hell is wrong with me?_

Leo: (snicker snicker) I knew it was going to come back and bite him.

Wolf: (rolls eyes) it would eventually.

Leo: review please!


	9. Chapter 9

Wolf: Were back! Sorry for the lateness of the chapter, some one disappeared for a little bit (glares at Leo).

Leo: (blush) I went over to my uncle's house for a week and I didn't have access to internet the entire week, it couldn't be helped.

Wolf: yea, yea, yea, that's what they all say. Any how were back on track, here's the next chapter!

Wolf and Leo: Own nothing!

* * *

Young Hao sat outside late that night on the roof of the bathhouse, steam rising from his still damp skin, watching the stars. Normally a bath in the hot springs calmed him, but not tonight. He kept going over the day's strange events in his mind.

Most of all he couldn't get the image of the older twins together out of his mind. They had looked so content, so...complete with one another. But it was odd; Hao didn't seem to be in control of Yoh at all. Young Hao wasn't sure how that was even possible.

"You're up awfully late." Young Hao jerked and turned his head at the voice. Yoh sat down beside him, stretching his long, lanky legs out in front of him.

"What business of it is yours?" Young Hao asked with a snarl. Yoh shrugged his shoulders. Like his younger counterpart, he was nonplussed by Young Hao's anger.

"It's not. I was merely making an observation." Yoh replied mildly.

"What are you doing out here?" Young Hao asked.

"Now who's being nosy?" Yoh chuckled. "I was taking a walk, clear my head."

"Hmph." Young Hao replied. The two were silent for some time. Then Young Hao spoke again. "He's under your control, isn't he?" Yoh turned to him, incomprehension in his dark eyes. "Your brother."

Yoh laughed softly at this.

"You of all people should know that Hao is far too strong-willed to bend to anyone else's."

"Then why has he abandoned his, our, goal?" Young Hao asked through clenched teeth.

"Because he finally found something worth living for." Yoh answered quietly.

"I live!" Hao retorted hotly. Yoh turned his quiet, gentle gaze back to him.

"You are alive, but you are not living. To live is to treat each day, each experience as a gift and to love it." Yoh told him. "To know joy, sorrow, love and pain. You know nothing of this, and so, you do not live." Young Hao rose to his feet, seething with rage.

"No one speaks to me that way." Young Hao snarled as he took a menacing step towards Yoh. "You may be older now, but I am still stronger. I can kill you, or better yet, your little fiancé, for your insolence."

Yoh's face dropped in a look of deep anger. He began to glow a burning, bright white and shot out one hand, closing it in a fist. Young Hao felt as though something huge had grabbed him, and was squeezing around his body slightly.

"**You always did have a talent for making me angry, didn't you?"** Yoh asked. Young Hao jerked slightly at the voice that was not entirely Yoh's own. **"You're wrong about being more powerful than I am, I have gained more power than you have ever accomplished." **

"Let me go!" Young Hao demanded.

"**You're angry because you are empty, and anger fills the void." **Yoh whispered. **"It'd become your drug, but someday, you're going to crash, and no one's going to be there to help you pick up the pieces." **

"I don't need anyone!" Young Hao screamed at him. "I don't want to care about anyone, I don't need love!"

"**But, that is what makes life worth living." **Yoh replied. **"It's what makes us human."**

"I am not human." Young Hao said through clenched teeth, trying to fight out of the invisible grip that held him.

"**Humanity is not about your abilities."** Young Hao craned his neck around to see where the new voice had come from. Hao walked across the roof towards the two of them, emanating the same glow as his brother. **"Our humanity is determined by what's inside."**

"**The capacity for great kindness, but also great pain," **Yoh said. **"the capacity to love another without asking anything in return. So maybe you're right. Maybe you aren't human anymore. But is that really something to be proud of?" **

Yoh and Hao then vanished, and the vice holding Young Hao lifted. He gasped slightly and then looked around, searching for some sign of the older twins, but it was like they had never been there.

Huffing slightly, Young Hao sat back down to think. He had no idea what the older twins were up to. He couldn't read their minds, and come to think of it, he couldn't read the minds of their friends. He sometimes caught thoughts from the two girls, Katie and Meg, but it was only, he realized, when they were communicating mind-to-mind with each other.

"What do they want?" He asked himself softly.

"What do who want?" Young Hao looked down to see his brother peering up at him from the ground below.

"What are you doing here?" Young Hao asked unkindly. Young Yoh shrugged his thin shoulders.

"I couldn't sleep." He explained. Young Hao stared down at him, trying not to see the way his shirt fit wrong, how it hung off his skinny frame. He tried not to see the dark circles around his eyes, or the sickly paleness of his skin. It didn't matter to him, he didn't care about Yoh.

"Who were you talking about?" Young Yoh persisted.

"None of your business." Young Hao snapped.

"Okay." Young Yoh said tiredly. Young Hao found that odd, his brother was usually more persistent, always pestering him.

"You should be sleeping, our match is tomorrow." Young Hao said in a quieter voice.

"What does it matter? You're going to do all the work, as you usually do." Young Hao was surprised by the irritation in his brother's voice. "The only thing I have to do is prevent you from killing someone."

"If you get in my way, I'll kill you too." Young Hao snarled. He was startled when Yoh laughed.

"The teams need to be of three people, otherwise they can't compete. Or have you forgotten the rules?" Young Yoh asked. "You injure me, or kill me, and I can't fight, your team gets disqualified. You can't hurt me." Young Hao growled, his brother was right, damn him.

"It seems there is a brain in that head of yours after all." He said snidely. "You are still a fool though, being willing to put yourself in danger for the weak."

"They're my friends." Young Yoh snapped. "I care about them. But you wouldn't know about that, would you?" He then turned on his heel and walked away without looking back.

%&%&%&%

Eyes from the shadows watched as Young Yoh walked back home.

"Do you really think that we can change him in time?"

"You got through to me, didn't you?" A soft sigh greeted the words.

"You were already on your way, thanks to Yoh."

"And the little guy is deteriorating faster than what we expected."

"All we can do is give him little nudges, he had to be the one to take that final leap."

"Until then, we'll keep an eye on them both."

Four figures then slipped away to their own beds.

* * *

Leo: (hides in bomb shelter)

Wolf:(continues to glare at Leo) Like we said earlier sorry for the lateness of the chapter, hope you enjoyed it!

Leo: (peeks out) Review plz! (hides again)


	10. Chapter 10

Wolf and Leo: Own nothing!

Yoh and Meg jogged through the empty streets in the morning. As they ran Yoh related his encounter with Young Hao the night before to her. She listened quietly while he talked, and then was silent while she thought about it.

"The anger was a front." She said finally. Yoh nodded as he ran.

"Yes, that's what I was thinking too." He said. "Because remember when we watched him talk to his Yoh?" Meg nodded, eyes on the road. "He was starting to notice Yoh a little more, and I think it upset him a little to see that Yoh was not looking well."

"Yoh also showed a different side of himself to Hao last night." Meg commented. "The smarter side, the one he doesn't normally show. Why don't you show that smart side more often?" Yoh laughed slightly.

"People always labelled me as a bit foolish, and I saw no reason to dissuade them." His face grew serious then. "I also realized after I learned about my relationship with Hao that if I acted as smart as I really am, people might find that threatening, because he was always smart. They might think I was turning into him."

"That's crazy!" Meg cried. Yoh snorted.

"Have you met the X-Laws?" He countered. Meg inclined her head. "True." She admitted. "They are a little cracked in the head." Yoh laughed again at that.

Suddenly he stopped running. It took Meg a moment to realize he was not with her anymore. She stopped in her tracks and walked back over to him. He was watching something with a look of pity in his eyes.

Meg followed his gaze and gasped. Young Yoh was standing by the side of the dirt road, bent over, hands clutching his belly. As they watched his sides heaved and he threw up in the grass.

Yoh was instantly by his side, preventing him from collapsing in the sick, and led him over to another patch of grass, where he sat the younger boy down.

"Hey, what happened?" Yoh asked, concerned by the greyish pallor of Young Yoh's skin, and the cold sweat that covered him.

"Was doing my morning workout when I started feeling sick." Young Yoh replied, voice slurred.

"Ok, you need to rest now." Young Yoh's eyes opened wide.

"No, I'm only halfway done." He protested, trying to stand up. Yoh forced him to sit down again.

"And you'll wind up killing yourself if you keep going." Meg said. "Don't you have a match today?" Young Yoh nodded miserably. "Maybe you shouldn't fight."

"No, I gotta." Young Yoh once again struggled to regain his feet. "They'll disqualify my team, I can't do that to my teammates." Yoh smiled sadly at him.

"Always looking out for everyone else, aren't you?" Young Yoh looked up at him.

"Wouldn't you?"

%&%&%&%

"Hao-sama is going to win today!" Macchi cried happily, bouncing along beside Kanna and Mari, who were following behind Young Hao.

"Of course he will." Kanna said irritably. "Hey, Mari, Mari!" Mari had fallen behind and was staring at something. "What are you looking at?" Mari pointed.

Hao was doing a handstand on the grass. His long hair fell around his face and along the ground. He looked slightly ridiculous.

"What is he doing?" Macchi asked.

"Being a show-off." Katie answered as she walked by them on her way to Hao with a couple of cinnamon buns. "As per usual." She got over to Hao and casually reached out and tapped his leg. The tap overbalanced him and he toppled over onto his back.

Hao sat up, swearing colourfully. He then noticed the three girls and Young Hao watching him. He grinned and waved. Katie sat down beside him with a sigh and offered him a cinnamon bun. She then set about pulling leaves, twigs and grass from his hair.

"Mm." Hao bit into the pastry. He hooked an arm around Katie's waist and pulled her close. The three girls edged closer to Hao and Katie, curious. Hao smiled and then snatched a piece of Katie's bun out of her hand. He ate it and then kissed her, silencing her protests.

"He can't be Hao-sama." Kanna said dismissively. "Hao-sama would never act like that."

"He would if he got that stick out of his ass." Hao replied. Katie snorted at his choice of words.

A wild yell suddenly rent the air and Hao was toppled back onto his back by Jeanne as she tackled him. Hao laughed his head off as he allowed the girl he considered like a little sister pin him to the ground.

"Gotcha!" She squealed as she sat on him.

"Oh, really?" Hao asked, a mischievous twinkle in his eyes. He easily bucked her off and sat up and began to tickle Jeanne. She squealed and wriggled out of his grasp, running and hiding behind Katie.

"Hello Jeannie Bean." Katie said as Jeanne wrapped her arms around her from behind. Hao's girls stared at her in surprise. They had been told about these strange visitors, but knowing and seeing were two different things.

"Mari thinks this is very strange." Jeanne blinked up at the three curious faces.

"Strange doesn't even begin to describe my life these days."

Katie jumped as her cell phone rang. She picked it up.

"Hello?...Really, how is he now?...Ok...Alright, we'll be right there." She closed the phone. "We gotta go."

"Where are you going now?" Young Hao asked.

"That's not your business Mr. Nosy." Katie replied. The three Crazies then walked away, back to their temporary home.

%&%&%&%

"You really think it's a good idea for him to be fighting after this morning?" Meg asked as the Crazies took their seats in the arena.

"No, but try telling him that." Hao replied. "Yoh can be very stubborn."

"I'm aware." Meg replied. "But, I love him anyways." She leaned against her fiancé. He smiled down at her. The smile died as he stared down at the arena floor, where Young Yoh's team was getting ready to fight.

"With any luck he won't have to do anything." Katie pointed out. "He does have Hao on his team." Yoh nodded, but didn't look away from his younger counterpart.

She was right, for the first little while anyways, until Young Hao went to kill one of his opponents. Then Young Yoh used his furyiochu to fly up and block his brother's blow at the last second.

Young Hao swatted him away in annoyance, knowing that Yoh would use his furyiochu to keep from crashing. But then, all the sudden, Yoh's oversoul flickered and died completely. Yoh began to fall through the air, passing out on the way.

The crowd gasped in horror, the fall would surely cripple the boy. But, before he could hit the ground a bubble of translucent white light surrounded him, stopping his fall. Yoh and Hao teleported themselves down to the arena floor, guiding the bubble down to the ground, with Young Yoh floating unconscious in it.

They allowed the bubble to disappear and Yoh caught the younger boy in his arms. Young Yoh was even paler than this morning, and his skin was clammy. He breathed in erratic gasps and he thrashed a little, as though in pain.

Hao placed his hands on the boy's chest and stared at Yoh.

"How much longer do you think this is going to work?" He asked softly. Yoh merely gave him a sorrowful look. Hao bowed his head and allowed the energy to surge through Young Yoh. Young Yoh stirred slower this time.

He sat up slowly, head lowered, looking tired.

"Why isn't it working like last time?" He asked in a small voice.

"Your body is becoming immune to it." Yoh explained gently.

"YOH!" The older twins looked up to see Young Yoh's friends, fiancé and family running towards them. Young Hao briefly stopped by.

"We won." He said tonelessly. Yoh looked up slowly at him.

"Oh." was the tired reply. Then he was grabbed by many hands all at once.

"What happened out there, man?" Horohoro demanded. "You just keeled over, again!" The older twins looked at Young Yoh.

"You haven't told them?" Hao asked sternly.

"I thought maybe you guys would be able to fix it, so I didn't want to worry them." Young Yoh replied.

"Fix what?" Manta asked. "Yoh, what's going on?"

"Tell them." Yoh told his younger self.

"Ok guys, I'll tell you, but only somewhere private."

Leo: ohhh now what will happen next….

Wolf: (grins) you'll just have to wait and find out.

Leo: (pouts) your no fun.

Wolf: review please!


	11. Chapter 11

Wolf and Leo: Own nothing!

* * *

Young Yoh finished telling his friends and family what the older twins had told him while they sat in the house that Yoh and his friends called their own for now. Hao and Yoh leaned against the far way, quiet and not interfering. They were merely there if the others had questions that Young Yoh couldn't answer, or for if things got out of hand.

"So, you're dying?" Manta whispered in disbelief. Young Yoh nodded slowly, not meeting anyone's eyes. Someone let out a quiet sob; Young Yoh guessed it was his mother.

"And you say all this is because you care about Hao?" Anna spat. Young Yoh nodded again. He didn't see the slap coming, but it hit with enough force to send him sprawling onto his side. He stared up at Anna who had her hand upraised to slap him again.

Suddenly a large hand grabbed her arm, stopping her. Yoh stepped over Young Yoh, putting himself between him and Anna.

"There will be no more of that." Yoh said, voice rumbling deeply in his chest, just short of a growl.

"How dare you?" Anna hissed, glaring at Yoh frostily. He was still Yoh, right? He should be afraid of her. As if he knew what she was thinking Yoh's hand tightened a little on her arm.

"You don't scare me anymore Anna." He spoke lowly. "You can't intimidate me like you do the others." Anna wrenched her arm out of Yoh's grip.

"This is none of your business." She snarled. "He has ruined all the plans we've so carefully laid out."

"That's it? That's all you can say?" Hao demanded slowly, slight anger behind his words. "He's dying and all you can think about is your plans? You are a selfish little brat." Anna gave him a condescending look.

"Huh, like you can talk. I bet the instant anything like this happened to your brother you'd drop him so fast-"

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" Hao's deep, furious roar made the entire room go silent. He pointed a finger shaking with rage at Anna.

"Do not presume anything about me." He snarled. "I would die for my brother, and don't you forget it." An awkward silence reigned for a moment as Hao reined in his temper.

"How long does he have?" The quiet question came from Keiko.

"We don't know exactly." Yoh answered quietly, avoiding looking at her directly. "There doesn't seem to be a measurable deterioration, that we can find anyways."

"We do know that any kind of strenuous activity hastens the process." Hao added, apparently having calmed down.

"So, you mean he can't train, or fight?" Ren asked. The older twins nodded.

"Useless." Yohmei snarled. Young Yoh flinched and lowered his head. Hao knelt beside him.

"You should go rest." He said. Young Yoh nodded very slightly, looking like he wanted to disappear under the disapproving and disappointed stares in the room. Yoh and Hao helped him to his feet and led him upstairs.

* * *

Young Hao was surprised to see Meg and Katie sitting in front of the place where his brother was staying. He had come in order to figure out what was going on with his brother, do some eavesdropping, just in case the information he found would change his plans at all. He was also surprised to see a purple-black, translucent energy field type thing surrounding the small house.

"What are you doing?" He demanded, striding over to the two girls. They looked up at him calmly.

"Discussing wedding plans." Meg replied. "No white dresses allowed." She directed that last comment at Katie.

"I mean what are you doing here, and what is that thing?" Young Hao clarified, annoyed, pointing at the energy field.

"It's a combination energy barrier and soundproof barrier." Katie explained, retying one of her converse. "It stops anyone getting in, or listening in."

"We are the ones who put it up, with the help of a spell." Meg patted the spellbook by her feet. "We have to be close to it in order for it to stay working."

"Seems like a lot of trouble." Young Hao grumbled, even more irritated now that he can't get the information that he wants.

"This is a private thing. There are people who might use what's being said in there to their own advantage." Katie replied. "Like I said, if you want to know what's happening, ask your brother." Young Hao snorted derisively.

"Like he'd want to talk to me." He said dismissively.

"Oh? So, he's never tried to have a conversation with you in the past?" Meg asked idly. Young Hao opened his mouth, then shut it. Memories of Yoh trying to talk to him surfaced, along with memories of himself dismissing Yoh with harsh words, or merely the cold shoulder.

"Stupid child." Hao muttered.

"Why do you think of him as a child?" Meg demanded. "Because he thinks positively about people, because he sees the world differently? Do you even know what he's gone through in his life, or even the last little while? Or is Yoh just another tool to be used at your leisure."

Young Hao was about to snap back at her when a furious roar from inside the house could be heard. Meg and Katie looked at each other.

"That was yours." Meg said after a moment.

"Oh yeah, no one roars quite like Hao." Katie agreed with a little laugh.

"I thought that force field was soundproofed?" Young Hao asked snidely.

"To a certain degree, like normal conversation. But not against a lion's roar." Meg said with a chuckle.

"Something must have well and truly pissed him off." Katie said, her face scrunching with slight worry. "He's usually pretty good about keeping his temper in check."

"You think we should go in and see what's going on?" Meg asked.

"No, I don't hear anything else, so I think we're ok."

Young Hao was getting annoyed that the humans were ignoring him. He wanted them to be aggressive, act like the monsters he knew they were. First though, he had to make them mad.

"I wonder how long your 'fiancés' will keep up this little game of theirs." He said with a cruel smirk. "I mean, do you really think they love you? Their powerful shamans and you are just...human. I wonder how long before Yoh goes back to his real fiancé, Anna."

"Never, ever mention that little bitch to me." Meg spat, standing up. "She hurt Yoh so much." Young Hao laughed at her anger. Meg snarled and let the shadows take over her eyes.

"Meg, he's not worth it, bullies never are." Katie said dismissively. Young Hao could see anger burning in her eyes though.

"Oh, really? How long before he finds someone infinitely more deserving of his attentions? He can hardly feel any sort of affection for someone who looks like you."

"That's enough!" Katie snapped. The two girls grabbed each others' hands, each preventing the other from doing something they would regret. Young Hao watched in dark satisfaction as a single tear slid down Katie's cheek. Katie took a breath that sounded slightly like a sob.

"You're nothing but a bully." Meg said through clenched teeth. "You know why bullies pick on others?"

"Enlighten me." Young Hao said mockingly.

"Bullies are people who are missing affection in their lives or feel inadequate, and so they bring other people down to their emotional level in order to make themselves feel better."

Young Hao growled, furious. It was not supposed to go this way! They were supposed to fly at him in that rage so easily incited in weak-minded humans, and he would destroy them. Instead they were throwing his words back in his face.

"Does it really make you feel better?" Katie asked, quieter now. "To hurt those who don't deserve it? Like your brother?"

"My brother is a fool."

"And that makes it alright?" Silence greeted her words. Young Hao stared balefully at her, but said nothing.

"Hao…." asked Meg quietly

"What!" he snipped

"When was the last time you had a hug or even gave a hug?"

Young Hao blinked at the unexpected question, "What in blue blazes dose that have to do with anything?"

"A whole lot." she replied. She got silence as he just stared at her.

"You don't remember do you?"

Young Hao shook his head to clear it and then crossed his arms, "I don't give hugs, they're sign of human weakness."

Meg shook her head, "how could you know what they are without experiencing them?"

Hao didn't answer.

"A hug can be defined in several different ways. It could be a sign of affection, it could be a just sign that some ones there willing to listen, it could be a sign of remorse for a wrong that was done; it could even be given in a time of happiness or excitement, it could even be just a way for someone to relax. The point is a hug is a way of showing your emotions without saying a word." Meg then took a deep breath giving Katie's hand a small squeeze which she returned, "sometimes when you don't want to say anything at all to a person, in this case to avoid 'weakness', just give them a hug and they will decipher the rest. For a hug a day keeps despair away, but hiding it away in anger will only make you cold and heartless. The question for you is do you have a heart, or is it a block of ice? For a person without a heart is just a monster."

The door of the house then creaked open and the older twins stepped out. They took in the scene that greeted their eyes and immediately moved to their fiancés' sides. Each took their girl in his arms and whispered soothing things to her.

Young Hao turned away from the sight and stalked away. He didn't want to see it, didn't want to be proved wrong. But his words now rang empty in his head and a heavy, uncomfortable feeling settled itself in his chest as he recalled Meg's last words,

'_The question for you is do you have a heart, or is it a block of ice? For a person with out a heart is just a monster.'_

'Am I a monster?'

* * *

Wolf: O_O

Leo: (chuckles)

Wolf: where did that come from?

Leo: (snickers) its called a plot bunny

Wolf: I guess so.

Leo: review please!


	12. Chapter 12

Wolf and Leo: Own nothing!

Keiko wandered away from the house. Her son was still sleeping and she wanted to get away from the bickering and accusations flying around the rest of the house from her family, Anna and Yoh's friends.

She couldn't explain why her parents and Anna were more concerned about their plans than Young Yoh's well-being. He was clearly very sick, and yet all they could do was berate him for developing feelings for his brother.

Keiko saw nothing wrong with that; they were still brothers, despite what Young Hao had done, did no one else see that? Even she, when she had seen Young Hao for the first time since his birth, had felt a deep twinge of motherly affection for him.

He was alone, did they not see that too? Even when surrounded by his followers he stood apart from them. He had no one that truly cared about him, except his brother, and he didn't even acknowledge his presence.

Keiko's head lifted at the sound of various people laughing and splashing around. She noticed that she had wandered to nearby the lake. The noises were of course coming from the direction of the shore. She turned the bend she knew led to the beach and stared at what she saw.

%&%&%&%

The teens needed to unwind. They were all wired up from their encounters today and needed to relax, play. Yoh, Hao, Katie and Meg had wandered around and come across Yugi and Yami playing at the beach, clad only in their boxers.

Katie had made a call to the others then the four teens whooped and stripped down to their underwear, charging into the water. The other Crazies soon followed. They had no qualms about being so near naked in front of each other, all of them were spoken for and so the only people who would ogle would be the couples at each other.

Bakura showed up and immediately cannonballed in close enough to Meg that he dowsed her completely. Meg glared at him and then began to chase him around the shallows with a beach ball in hand, which she would periodically bounce off of his head.

Hao watched them with a grin, floating in a tube that he had found. Suddenly the tube was forcefully flipped over and he wound up in the water. He surfaced to find Yoh grinning impishly at him.

He roared a mock-challenge and pounced on his brother. The two of them surfaced to find Katie had stolen the tube and was watching them with a smug expression. She half-turned as the tube dipped under an unknown weight. Chuckling, she helped Meg into the tube, and the two of them sat watching their friends' shenanigans.

It was then that they noticed Keiko standing at the edge of the water, a look of clear yearning on her face. The two girls looked at each other and then waved Keiko over. Keiko took a step back, seemingly uncertain. The girls waved a little more frantically, then jumped out of the tube and swam to shore.

"Come swim." Katie said, taking one of Keiko's hands.

"Oh no, no, I couldn't." Keiko protested shyly.

"There's nothing to worry about, everyone swimming in a serious relationship, so no one will be ogling you." Meg explained.

"Yeah, Bakura might make a few rude comments but that's just him being stupid." Katie added. After a few moments of gentle coaxing Keiko pulled of the light kimono she was wearing and stood in her simple sky blue bra and panties, feet in the water.

"Come on." Meg coaxed, taking her hand again. "We don't bite."

"Often." Katie chuckled. Keiko smiled back tentatively and allowed the girls to lead her deeper into the water. By this point the others had seen what was going on and were also encouraging Keiko to come in the water.

Understanding that their new companion was slightly shy, the boys made no move to play any of their usual pranks. They simply let her swim amongst them, letting her get used to their presence.

Suddenly Keiko froze, looking towards the dock. Young Hao was standing there with an amused smirk on his face. Keiko seemed to shrink a little under his stare. Meg and Katie whispered briefly and then slipped under the water and out of sight.

Young Hao didn't see it coming. In one quick instant two pairs of hands shoved him in the back and he went straight into the water. He came up sputtering and stared in surprise and anger at the two laughing girls on the dock.

With whoops of joy Meg and Katie jumped off the dock, sailing over Young Hao's head and landing in the water with a huge splash. They swam over to their friends, who were all laughing hysterically.

"Oh man, that takes me back." Joey chortled. Young Hao merely walked out of the water, with as much dignity as he could muster, being as soaking wet as he was.

Later on the happy swimmers were done with their play and were busy drying themselves off and putting their clothes back on. Keiko edged towards the twins, curiosity in her eyes.

"Where did you get that scar?" She asked Hao, pointing at the long vertical scar running down the center of his chest.

"Oh, that was from Yoh and my battle, three years ago." Hao replied with a faint shrug.

"Does the other Hao have a scar like it?" Keiko inquired.

"Most probably." Yoh replied quietly. "Though he'd probably never admit that Yoh did manage to hurt him." Hao nodded in agreement.

"How...how did you two become so..." Keiko wasn't quite sure how to continue.

"Like brothers?" Hao offered. Keiko nodded, peering up at the two boys curiously.

"Yoh saved my life, that's how." Hao answered. "Although it took me a little while to admit it. I was and still can be, a stubborn bastard." Yoh chuckled.

"I'll say. He wouldn't stop pestering me until I got these piercings." He said, pointing to the studs in his ear.

"Do you think that my Yoh can get through to his Hao?"

"We're not sure, but I know he's trying." Keiko suddenly put a hand over her mouth, fighting back tears.

"Can't you do anything to help him?" She sobbed softly.

"We're trying." Hao said, voice tight with grief. "But, we can't find any way to sever the connection."

"What can I do?" Keiko asked helplessly.

"Care for him, be there for him." Yoh answered. "He's going to need all the support that he can get right now."

Wolf and Leo: Review plz!


	13. Chapter 13

Wolf and Leo: Own nothing!

Young Yoh slipped out of the house unnoticed. He couldn't sleep with all the bickering going on and there was something he needed to do. Despite the heat of the day he felt cold, and was wearing a sweater and pants. Even with the layers he felt cold, an icy chill that seemed to penetrate his bones.

He shivered slightly and wrapped his arms around himself. He set out, walking slowly into the forest nearby, certain he knew where he would find what he was looking for. Suddenly he was wrenched off his feet by his collar and dangled in the air. Big Guy Bill stared into his face, scowling.

"And what are you doing out here?" The huge man rumbled.

"I'm here to see Hao." Young Yoh replied with more calm than he felt at that moment. Big Guy Bill laughed.

"What makes you think he wants to see you?" He sneered. "Maybe he'll just burn you to a crisp."

"Then why don't you take me to him and see what he does?" Young Yoh inquired. Big Guy Bill snorted and then set out deeper into the forest, Young Yoh still dangling in the air. Soon they came upon Young Hao's camp.

Young Hao's minions stared at Young Yoh as he was carried through the camp. Young Yoh ignored them, focusing on the man in the center of camp; his brother.

"Found this wandering around the forest. Says he was looking for you." Big Guy Bill said, throwing Young Yoh at Young Hao's feet. Young Yoh got to his feet slowly, unsure of his balance. Young Hao's eyes flicked over him and then away.

"Well? What do you want?" He asked rudely.

"I need to talk to you." Young Yoh replied.

"Then talk." Young Hao said shortly, impatiently.

"Alone." Young Yoh insisted. Young Hao stood up and turned away.

"Anything you say can be said in front of my men, or not at all." He said dismissively. Young Yoh lunged forward and grasped his arm through his poncho. Young Hao could feel the chill of his brother's skin even through the material.

"It's important." Young Yoh murmured, staring into his brother's eyes. Young Hao paused and then ever so slightly nodded, wrenching his arm out of Young Yoh's grasp. He twisted and walked away, indicating for his followers to stay where they were. Young Yoh followed after him.

Young Hao led him to the far side of the lake that the Crazies had been playing in. Young Hao sat on a rocking, eying his twin warily. The two of them simply stared at each other for a moment; Young Yoh had no idea where to start.

Amazingly it was Young Hao who broke the silence.

"What's happening to you?" he demanded, not quite looking at his brother directly. Young Yoh stiffened slightly, and then relaxed; his brother had just given him the start he needed.

"I'm dying." Young Yoh said quietly. The revelation visibly startled his brother. It took a moment for Young Hao to recompose himself.

"What do you mean?" Young Yoh hesitated, there was no easy way for him to explain this. So, he started at the beginning.

%&%&%&%

Young Yoh watched his older twin uneasily as he digested the information he had been given. He knew Young Hao's moods well enough now that he knew that Young Hao was quickly becoming furious.

"So, what you're saying is that because of your stupidity, I am going to die?" Young Hao finally asked tightly, glaring at his brother. Young Yoh balked at his choice of words.

"I fail to see how it is stupidity—"

He wasn't able to finish. His brother had darted forward too fast for him to react and dealt him a hard blow to the side of his head. Young Yoh fell off the rock he had been sitting on, clutching his head.

"It is stupidity because you have ruined everything." Young Hao snarled. "All of my plans, for nothing!"

"Is that all you can think about?" The sharp tone of Young Yoh's voice startled Young Hao; he'd never heard his brother ever use it. "That your life is ruined?" Young Yoh stood up, eyes blazing. "What about my life, my plans?"

"Your plans?" Young Hao said condescendingly. "They are worthless."

"Everyone's plans but yours are worthless." Young Yoh's voice rose angrily. "You don't think of anyone but yourself. You're a selfish bastard."

Young Hao roared angrily at his words. He summoned a fireball in each hand. But, to his surprise, his twin only laughed, a jagged, mirthless sound.

"Go ahead, burn me." Young Yoh said, with a smile that looked more like a pained grimace. "You'll only hasten your own end." Tears pooled in his dark eyes and slipped down his cheeks, but he made no move to wipe them away.

Young Hao turned away from the sight, from the sight of his brother's agony. He began to walk away but Young Yoh's voice halted him.

"You can't escape this Hao, not this time." Young Yoh said, taking a step towards him. "You're going to die, and there's no force on this earth that can stop it."

Young Hao didn't answer him, thoughts churning wildly.

"Look at me." Young Yoh's voice was quieter now. Young Hao didn't turn. "LOOK AT ME!" Young Hao flinched at the desperation in his brother's voice. Still, though, he did not turn. He did not want to see, could not afford to see. So, instead he began to walk back the way he came.

As he walked a wail of anguish erupted from behind him. Forgetting dignity, Young Hao began to run, wanting to get as far away from his brother's pain as he could.

Leo: O_O

Wolf: yea I know

Leo: O_O

Wolf: Leo you ok? (wave's hand in front of Leo's face getting no reaction)

Leo: O_O

Wolf: (sigh's then peeks out a door) Yugi come here please.

Yugi: (peeks in with an annoyed yami behind him) yes?

Wolf: (glances at Yami) did I interrupt something?

Yami: (glares and says quite bluntly) yes.

Yugi: (blush) nothing we can't do again.

Wolf: (raises eyebrow) I don't want to know. Any way Yugi will you finish for me I have an author to take care of (glances at leo)

Leo: O_O

Yugi: sure! Yami would you please help with Leo? (gives puppy dog eyes)

Yami: (pouts) fine. (picks up leo and hoists author over his shoulder and takes off)

Wolf: HEY GET BACK HERE! (chases after Yami)

Yugi: (shakes head then turn's to readers) Leo and Wolf would appreciate greatly your opinion on this chapter. Please review! Now where did my yami go…. (Run's after his dark)


	14. Chapter 14

Wolf and Leo: Nothing but our own bad selves is owned by us!

Young Hao sat at the edge of the lake that night, brooding. He had been thinking of it all day, and he still could find no way out of his impending death. His mind also kept going back to his brother's eerie, pain-filled wail.

Soft footsteps walked through the grass towards him. Young Hao didn't look, hoping whoever it was would go away. But the footsteps continued right past him, until he heard the slosh of feet wading through the water of the lake.

Curious, Young Hao lifted his head to find Katie standing up to her knees in the cool lake water, staring up at the night sky. She hummed slightly as she twisted her engagement ring this way and that.

"What do want?" Young Hao finally asked, harshly, impatiently. Katie turned her head quickly, blue-grey eyes wide. Young Hao realized with shock and irritation that she hadn't even noticed he was there.

"I don't want anything." Katie said after a moment.

"Then why did you come out here?"

"No reason."

"There's always a reason for doing things." Young Hao gave her a snide look. Katie merely shrugged her shoulders and looked up at the sky again.

"Not always." She replied. "I decided to go for a walk, so I did. There was no reason behind it. I saw the lake and wanted to go in, feel the sand under my feet, look up at the stars. They're so beautiful, aren't they?"

"I didn't think humans took the time to look at the stars anymore."

"Some do, some don't." Katie shrugged again. "I look up at them because they're so mysterious to me. What worlds revolve around those faraway suns?" She turned her head to look at him again. "What are you doing out here?"

"What makes you think that I have a reason for being out here?"

"You just said that people don't do things for no reason, that being your philosophy it makes no sense that you would do something for no reason." Katie gave him a distinctly smug grin. Young Hao growled angrily, but damn her, she was right. But, he wasn't about to tell her his business.

"He told you, didn't he?" The quiet voice penetrated his thoughts and he came back to himself to find Katie peering at him with a gaze that knew him all too well. "Yoh told you." Startled, Young Hao could only nod. He was then even more startled when Katie's face crumpled in grief. "I'm so sorry." She whispered.

"I don't need your pity." Young Hao snarled hotly.

"You mistake sorrow for pity." Katie replied. "They are two different things." Young Hao only snorted, but secretly he found himself perplexed by both his brother's and this human girl's mourning of him. Why did they care?

"I see you." For some reason the words sent a small chill down Young Hao's spine. He looked up to find that penetrating gaze back on him. It was like staring into the ocean; bottomless.

The spell was broken however as a large black shape charged into the water and leapt at Katie, knocking her over.

"Bo!" She cried, grabbing the big black shepherd by the collar. She shook herself off as she stood up again, much like a dog would.

"Sorry!" Meg called as she ran down to the water. "I didn't realize he'd managed to chew through his leash."

"Again?" Katie said incredulously. Meg held up the remains of the leash as evidence. Katie sighed and rubbed Bo's ears. "What are we going to do with you?"

"Why did you leave the house?" Meg asked, sloshing into the water. "Hey, Hao." She lifted a hand in greeting at Young Hao.

"Couldn't sleep." Katie replied.

"And you couldn't have stayed in the house?"

"I was tired of having to listen to you and Yoh doing the horizontal bop." Katie emphasized this with a suggestive eyebrow wriggle. Meg blushed slightly.

"Oh yeah, like you and Hao are so quiet." She grumbled. "What exactly do you do to make him make that mewling sound?" Katie grinned somewhat sheepishly and beckoned Meg closer. She whispered in her friend's ear. Meg pulled away, looking at her in shock.

"Really?" Katie nodded, giggling slightly.

"Huh, and you say you're not whores." Young Hao scoffed.

"There's nothing wrong with having a healthy sex life in a good relationship." Meg asserted. "It's not like sex is the reason they stay with us. We waited until we felt the relationship was solid before we did anything."

Young Hao snorted, but in truth these two confused him. They didn't act like he believed humans were like. They did not snip at each other or other people. They didn't seem to hate him, not even after all the hurtful things he had said to him.

"Why didn't you take Hao with you by the way?" Meg asked Katie. Katie snorted with laughter.

"Like I could have woken him up, he sleeps like he's dead." The two girls laughed.

"Yeah, that's one thing that the twins have in common." Meg shook her head, an affectionate expression on her face.

"I have nothing in common with that fool." Young Hao muttered.

"You'd be surprised." Katie replied. "If you sat down with him and had a serious chat, I think you'd be shocked at what you'd find."

"Like what?" Young Hao demanded.

"You'll have to ask him," Meg gave him a pert grin and just as quickly as it came it then faded, "before it's too late." Young Hao only turned away, casually brushing off the mention of his impending death.

"Will anyone care for you, when you start to deteriorate?" The question from Katie startled him.

"What do you mean?" He asked without meaning to.

"I mean, will your followers stick around when you lose your power and formidableness?" Katie clarified.

"Or will they walk away thinking that you're not worth anything anymore? Meg finished. Young Hao was dumbfounded; would they?

"If you need to, you can come stay with us." Meg added haltingly. "We'll take care of you."

"I don't need anyone." Young Hao said viciously, finding his voice again. He didn't want their pity!

Katie shook her head "you say that now, but will you say the same when your brother dies and you soon follow?" He said nothing as Meg continued for her, "Everyone needs someone, without that someone your life will be a short and lonely one. Don't let your bitterness to humans effect your relationship with the one who tries so hard to get close to you."

Hao snorted "I don't need any one close to me, they will only slow me down."

Meg gave a small grin that didn't reach her eyes "You say they slow you down, but maybe it's you that's slowing the them down." Hao looked at her with surprise.

"Remember Hao, you may win a battle, but the team wins the race. Without the others you will never reach the finish line."

Hao just huffed "You're just jealous that I'm more powerful then you, if you had my powers…."

"I would still ask for help from others," Meg interrupted him, "I would not be all powerful and neither are you now. I have my strong spots and my weak spots, and those weak spots would be covered by someone else's strong spots, and working together we are unbeatable."

Hao just blinked at her.

"The offer still stands, if you so choose to take it." Meg replied quietly, and then turned to Katie "You ready to go to bed?" Katie nodded and took her outstretched hand. Meg then turned back to Young Hao one last time

"Hao, I want you to think about what we said and remember, only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*%~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*~&~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*&~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Wolf: O_O….. getting a bit deep there?

Leo: (shrugs) it needed to be said

Wolf: (looks at story) I think you might have scared him a little.

Leo: (chuckles) deserves him right for being hard headed

Wolf: true, oh so true

Leo and Wolf: REVIEW PLEASE!


	15. Chapter 15

Wolf: sorry it took so long to get this out, someone was being a bit lazy. (Glares at Leo)

Leo: (hides behind sofa) don't hurt me!

Wolf: (eye twitches) HURT YOU, I'M GOING TO DO MORE THEN HURT YOU!

Leo: (gulps, inches toward doorway) nothing but our own bad selves is owned by us! Now if you'll excuse me. (runs out of the room screaming)

Wolf: GET BACK HERE! (Chases after Leo)

_Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile. _Meg's words had continued to echo in Young Hao's mind long after the two girls had left. He barely slept the previous night, the soft whisper permeating his dreams and the sound of Yoh's pain-filled cry haunting him.

He decided to take a dip in the hot springs, in order to clear his head, and hopefully wake him up a little. He peered into the bath before walking in. There was no one there. He went in and took off his clothes. He dropped one foot in the water and immediately struck some unseen object.

The object yelped in surprise and pain and leapt out of the way. Young Hao and Young Yoh stood staring at each other in shock. Young Yoh had been sitting low in the bath, enough so that Hao hadn't noticed him when he had peeked inside.

"What are you doing here?" Young Hao demanded, recovering from his initial surprise.

"Same thing you are." His brother replied, sitting back down on the edge of the bath. Young Hao got in as well, not about to let his brother ruin his bath. He glared at Young Yoh, hoping he would get the message and get out. Young Yoh however, simply watched him wearily.

"That scar," Young Yoh spoke in a soft voice, staring at the long vertical scar running down his twin's chest. "Is it from...?" He trailed off, but Young Hao knew exactly what he meant.

"Yes." He replied shortly.

"I'm sorry." Young Hao was startled by Young Yoh's murmured apology, although he didn't show it. Instead he laughed shortly, mirthlessly.

"Well, now you finally get to kill me anyways." He sneered.

"I never wanted to kill you." Young Yoh's words were met with astonished silence.

"Then, why did you fight me?" Young Hao finally queried.

"I knew it wouldn't kill you." Young Yoh admitted. "It was just buying time to figure out...never mind, you wouldn't understand."

"And why is that?" Young Hao demanded angrily.

"Because you remember nothing of caring for another person." His brother answered quietly. He then stood up in the water to get out. Young Hao noted distantly that Young Yoh was so thin that he was skeletal. Yoh spoke again as he walked out of the bath.

"I pity you Hao, you don't know what you're missing out on."

%&%&%&%

Young Hao wandered back out of the baths a little while later, his brother's words only adding to the clamour in his mind. As soon as he got out into the open air he saw Hao stalking about, muttering darkly to himself. The older boy's muscles were taut with tension and he was scowling quite ferociously.

"What's your problem?" Young Hao asked, sauntering up to his older counterpart. Hao scowled deeper.

"That...that bitch!" He spat. Young Hao raised an eyebrow; did Katie finally push him over the edge. "I'm not talking about Katie, stupid." Young Hao remembered that as his older self, Hao could read his mind. "Anna."

Young Hao blinked, startled. Then he remembered the two girls claiming that Anna had been flirting with him. The cogs worked in his brain as he puzzled out what had incited Hao so much.

"She was coming onto you, wasn't she?" Young Hao inquired. Hao only nodded, dark eyes narrowed to slits.

"She kept saying she would be a better choice than a powerless human." Hao rumbled low in his throat. "As if, she can't even stay faithful to Yoh, why would I want her?"

"She was flirting with me the other day, saying Yoh wasn't strong enough." Young Hao disclosed.

"Bitch." Hao snarled again.

"I wonder how Yoh will react when he finds out." Young Hao asked idly.

"He doesn't need to know." Hao snapped. "It would kill him."

"Kill who?" Hao whirled in shock to find Young Yoh standing behind him. Young Hao smirked and spoke for him.

"Anna has decided you are unworthy of her attention." He mocked.

"What do you mean?" Yoh asked bewilderedly.

"I mean that she has dumped you in favour of someone stronger, me." A cruel smile flitted across Young Hao's face. He watched as the full meaning of what he had said dawned on his brother. Young Yoh shook his head, tears coming to his eye, and turned on his heel and fled away through the forest.

A heavy hand struck Young Hao across the face. The front of his poncho was then grabbed and he stared into Hao's livid face.

"You don't think, do you?" Hao roughly shook his younger doppelganger. "You don't care who you hurt. Do you have any idea of what that boy is going through?"

"Why should I care?" Young Hao questioned.

"If you have to ask, you won't understand." Hao grimaced and then let him go. "You think you're better than everyone else, but you're just a selfish little brat."

With those parting words he spun and followed Young Yoh into the forest. After a moment footsteps rang out beside his.

"I heard you." Yoh commented as they ran. "What happened?" Hao silently related what had happened to his brother. They came out into a clearing and found Young Yoh sitting under a tree, sobbing.

"Is it true?" He asked them as they padded up to him. Hao nodded miserably. "But, why?" Yoh and Hao looked at each other and nodded. They sat down beside him.

"You're probably wondering what happened to us, aren't you?" Young Yoh nodded. "Well, three years ago..."

%&%&%&%

Young Yoh was wide-eyed when they finished.

"That sounds nearly impossible, but amazing!" He stated. "But what does it have to do with me?"

"Both Annas lost faith in us. Why?" Yoh asked. Young Yoh shook his head, not comprehending. "Faith, trust, neither of them had it."

"Anna was abandoned as a child and then shunned because of her abilities." Hao explained. "She learned not to trust anyone, even you."

"I think Anna did love me, in her own twisted way. But she used fear tactics to keep me from leaving, or rebelling against her." Yoh continued. "In the end, that's what drove me completely away from her."

"But, what about my Anna, why is she abandoning me? I'm certainly easier to control now." Young Yoh reasoned.

"Yes, but Anna is also very ambitious. She decided she wanted power, any way she could." Hao clarified. "When you started to lose power, and grow weak, she turned her attention to someone else who would be able to give her that power."

"Hao." Young Yoh responded dismally. Yoh and Hao nodded sombrely. Yoh spoke again quietly, sorrowfully.

"It's times like these that show you who your true friends are."

Neither of them saw the person leaning out the window, or the sad set of eyes that retreated back into the room in wince they came.

Wolf: review please! GET BACK HERE LEO!


	16. Chapter 16

Wolf: (smirks at Leo tied securely to a chair with a gag in her mouth)

Leo: (glares)

Wolf: (snickers) We own nothing!

Young Hao sat by the water of the lake, staring at his face. A livid bruise claimed most of his left cheek. His face felt like it was on fire.

"Hey." Young Hao half-turned his head to see Yoh walking towards him. Yoh winced when he saw the bruise. "Did my brother do that?" Young Hao nodded tightly and looked away, back into the water.

In the next instant a large hand cupped his chin and brought his face up to Yoh's.

"I can fix that." He said, holding up a glowing hand. "Just hold still." Young Hao winced slightly when Yoh put his hand on his cheek, but almost immediately a cooling sensation went through it, stopping the burning. "There, all better. You really made him mad, didn't you?"

"So? I only told my brother the truth." Young Hao snapped. Yoh regarded him gravely and Young Hao figured he was in for a lecture.

"You know what your brother's biggest concern right now is?" Yoh asked. "It's not his own impending death, it's yours." Young Hao only stared at him, revealing nothing. "He's getting close, but he's trying to hold on, for you. Hoping against hope that something will happen to get you both out of this mess."

"Like me developing feelings for him?" Young Hao scoffed. "That's never going to happen."

"I don't think that's true." Yoh replied. "I think you do feel something. You don't know what it is exactly, and you don't understand it, but the little twinges you've been getting scare you. You don't know how to deal with it, so you turn away from him."

Young Hao felt goosebumps rise on his arms. Yoh knew him far too well. He did not show it however and simply got up and left. Yoh watched him go then sighed. His brother walked out of the trees and sat beside him.

"Well, that's it." Hao said. "We've done all we can."

"All we can do now is hope."

%&%&%&%

The next day was cold and rainy. Normally it would be a day when Young Hao would just stay inside, but his mind was churning. Thoughts of his brother, the older twins, and the humans that were with them swirled through his head, making him feel odd and out of sorts. A warm bath had not helped, so maybe a cold shower would do the trick.

The numbing sensation of the chill rain hitting his skin seemed to do the trick, until he saw the small, bedraggled shape sitting by the side of the dirt road. Upon closer inspection he realized it was his brother, sitting unmoving in the pouring rain. Young Yoh looked dead, the only indication of life were the vapor clouds condensing in front of him as he breathed shallowly.

"What are you doing out here?" Young Hao asked harshly, storming up to his brother. Young Yoh struggled to lift his head and Young Hao recoiled at the anguish in his eyes.

"I-I confronted A-Anna, about...s-s-she k-kicked m-me o-o-out." Young Yoh struggled with the words. "W-Waited until K-Kaa-san and th-the guys were o-out of the house." Young Hao crouched in front of his brother. Young Yoh looked back at him, concern in his eyes.

"It's coming soon." The tremor was gone from Young Yoh's voice, but now it sounded slurred and distant. "When you start to deteriorate you can go to the older twins, they'll help you if you ask."

"Get up." Young Hao demanded. "Get up!"

"Can't." Young Yoh's voice had dropped to the barest whisper. "So... tired... can't... move... Hao..." Young Yoh's head fell forward.

"Yoh?" Young Hao gripped his brother's shoulders and shook him. "Yoh!" But Young Yoh did not respond. Young Hao stared at his twin's face. The dark circles around Young Yoh's eyes looked like bruises. His skin was a sick, grey-white color and his lips had turned a pale shade of blue. He was barely breathing.

Young Hao realized that his brother was now in the last stages of death. Images and words ran through his mind.

'_He's hanging on for you'_

'_You're nothing but a selfish little brat!'_

'_They're so beautiful, aren't they?'_

'_You could come stay with us.'_

'_Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile.'_

'_I never wanted to kill you.' _

All the walls he had carefully built around himself, all the emotions he locked away, struggled against their prison and shattered it. Tears welled up in Young Hao's eyes and his hands moved from gripping Young Yoh's shoulders to circling around his gaunt, wasted body.

He clutched his brother close, unmindful of the bone-chilling cold he emanated. This close he could feel the soft, cold breath on his neck and feel the slowing heartbeat. He rested his chin on the top of Young Yoh's head and used one hand to stroke his dull, wet hair. For the first time in one thousand years he didn't care about what was happening to himself; right now he only cared that his little brother was dying, and it was all his fault.

Young Hao didn't know how long he'd stayed like that, drenched in icy rain with his twin. Eventually though he began to notice Young Yoh start to tremble, just slightly. But, then the tremors grew, until Young Yoh was shaking like a leaf in a gale.

"Yoh?" Young Hao gasped, pulling back to gaze at his brother. Young Yoh's eyes blinked open as he continued to shiver.

"H-Hao?" He managed to say from between chattering teeth. His mouth opened in a soft O of surprise when Young Hao's response was to pull him close again.

"It's ok." Young Hao soothed. "You're going to be ok." Joy, like nothing he'd ever felt before, suffused through his entire body as Young Yoh tentatively wrapped his arms around him and nuzzled his face into his chest.

"I-It's so c-c-cold." Young Yoh moaned, trying to huddle closer to Young Hao's warmth.

"I know." Young Hao quieted him, rubbing his back gently. "I know just where we can get you warmed up." He pulled away slightly. "Do you think you can manage to get up onto my back?" Young Yoh nodded and lifted his arms to wrap them around his brother's neck.

Young Hao was reassured by the strong beat of Young Yoh's heart against his back. Some warmth had returned to the younger twin's skin, but he was still very cold. Young Hao set off down the road, piggybacking Young Yoh. Young Yoh leaned forward to whisper in his brother's ear.

"Thank you, onii-chan."

Wolf: Review plz!


	17. Chapter 17

Wolf and Leo: Nothing but our own bad selves is owned by us!

Wolf to Leo: Ok, so I lied when i said this was the last one, but next one will be, then on to something new.

Young Hao blinked the rain out of his eyes as he carried his brother to the front door of the older twins and their friends' house. He was about to knock when the door opened on its own. He stood rigid for a moment, uncertainty seizing him unexpectedly.

"Well, going to stand out there all day?" A warm, friendly voice called from inside the house. That was all the invitation he needed and he stepped into the house, dripping water onto the floor. He followed a soft glow that radiated out of one of the rooms.

He found the Crazies all inside, sitting relaxed in front of a roaring fire, looking at him expectantly.

"Well it's about time." Hao rumbled, his eyes twinkling with merriment. Young Hao let go of Young Yoh's legs, allowing his twin to slide off his back. Immediately there was a thump. Young Hao looked around to find his brother sitting on the floor with a slightly dazed expression on his face, and he was still shivering.

Young Hao had time only to register this fact before a pair of hands gripped him gently and began to take off his soaked clothing and rub his wet body dry. Young Hao received the ministrations without quarrel, seeing his twin getting the same treatment.

When they were done Young Hao found himself dressed in sweatpants and a t-shirt. Young Yoh was similarly dressed and gave his brother a faint, tired smile when Young Hao looked over to him. There was a flush to Young Yoh's cheeks now, but his eyelids drooped and he listed slightly until Young Hao caught him in his arms.

"What's wrong with him? Why is he still so weak?" Young Hao asked anxiously. Hao and Yoh chuckled gently.

"It's the combination of lack of sleep and loss of appetite." Hao assured. "He'll feel better after some sleep and some food." Yoh nodded in acknowledgement and leaned down to lift his younger doppelganger into his arms. Young Yoh gazed up at him drowsily as Yoh carried him through the house to an out of the way bedroom, Young Hao following behind.

Yoh laid Young Yoh down on the bed, drawing the sheets up around him. "Get some sleep." He murmured, voice mellow and kind. "You'll feel better after resting." He winked at Young Hao and then left the twins alone in each other's company.

Young Hao hesitated a moment and then walked over to the bed. Young Yoh let out a sluggish murmur as his brother slipped into the bed next to him. His hands reached out, pulling him close to the older twin. Young Hao sighed softly in contentment as his twin nuzzled against him. No words were said, no words were needed as the two slipped into a soft slumber.

%&%&%&%

Young Hao awoke some hours later to find that he had turned over onto his back and his brother had settled himself half on top of him, snoring lightly. "Yoh?" Young Hao gently shook Young Yoh's shoulder. Young Yoh grunted blearily and opened his eyes.

"Hello." He sighed, sitting up and giving his brother a happy, albeit some dozy grin.

"Hey." Young Hao replied and then started when he felt an unfamiliar presence brush his mind, attempting to get in. He tried to push the intruder out, but then stopped when he saw Young Yoh's hurt look.

"We don't have to hide from each other anymore." Young Yoh murmured. Young Hao relaxed further as his brother opened his own mind to him. The rest of the world seemed to fade away as the Asakura twins pored through each other's minds, finding out everything about each other.

When they came back to themselves they were sitting with their foreheads pressed together and their fingers intertwined.

"I'm so sorry." Young Yoh said in a husky voice, wiping wetness of his brother's face. Young Hao hadn't even realized he had been crying. The emergence of old memories had been painful for him. He wrapped his brother in a warm hug.

"If anyone needs to be sorry, it's me." He murmured. "I put you through so much pain."

"It's ok now, we're ok now." Young Yoh replied. He looked down as his stomach growled. Young Hao smiled at him, finding their new ability to communicate mentally meant that they did not have to speak to understand. He found he enjoyed it, despite the years of hiding his true feelings; it was somewhat of a relief to be able to share now.

The two of them walked into the kitchen, where they could smell food cooking. Yoh and Hao were at the stove. Their younger counterparts could sense the buzz of silent communication between them. Then Yoh turned and smiled.

"Sit down, we're cooking soup for you." He told them. Young Yoh sat down, staring at Hao.

"You cook?"

"Yes," Hao chuckled. "Quite well, despite some mishaps in the early days."

"Oh, you mean like the stove incident?" Meg leaned against the doorway, grinning at them.

"Stove incident?" Young Hao asked. Katie came in and laughed.

"Oh, it was hilarious. Hao decides one day to make pasta and he goes to the stove to turn it on, right?" She started giggling, and couldn't stop so Meg continued.

"Well, Seto's got a gas stove, so when Hao turns it on he just turns it all the way without waiting for it to spark, so nothing happens, but the gas is still on." She paused for a second. "So then, he gets mad and tries to use Spirit of Fire to light the stove." She too starts laughing.

"Long story short, gas stove plus fire equals boom." Hao finished. "We're just lucky we had Yami there to contain the blast."

"Thank the Great Spirit for Shadow magic." Yoh deadpanned. The four Crazies cracked up, unable to speak for a good five minutes before they calmed down.

"Hear you go." Hao said to the younger twins, pushing a bowl of soup in front of each of them. The warm food banished the bit of chill from their bodies.

"Where's everyone else?" Young Yoh asked curiously.

"Oh, Bakura probably is finding interesting places for him and Ryou to have sex, Yami and Yugi are probably staring adoringly into each other's eyes by the lake, Joey and Seto are probably arguing in a shop somewhere, and Jeanne is likely getting harassed by Marco again."

"Not anymore." The room's occupants looked up to find Jeanne standing in the kitchen doorway with a satisfied smirk on her face.

"Oh dear, what did you do?" Katie asked, grinning at the young girl.

"Well, he wouldn't leave me alone, so I took a note from your books and popped him one in the nose." Young Yoh's mouth dropped open and his spoon fell into his soup with a clatter.

"You punched Marco?" Jeanne blinked at him and then smiled.

"Oh good, you're feeling better. Yes I did, he was irritating."

"What did the Iron Maiden have to say about that?" Young Hao asked, cocking his head to one side.

"Oh, she went on about how I was going to hell while Marco squealed like a stuck pig. He's such a baby." Jeanne rolled her eyes and sat down at the table.

Young Hao watched his brother, anxiously looking for any signs that Young Yoh was going to collapse again. Young Yoh simply inhaled his soup and then let out a mighty sneeze. Hao chortled and moved over to the table with a spoon and a vial of medicine.

"I know you don't like it, but it will make you feel better." Young Hao snatched the vial from Hao and poured the medicine himself. Hao was startled for a moment and then laughed uproariously.

"That's the spirit." He said, rubbing Young Hao's head fondly. "Always look after your little brother, that's your job now, understand?" Young Hao nodded as he dosed Young Yoh. Young Yoh grimaced, but swallowed dutifully.

"I'll be back in a couple minutes." Hao looked at his brother in confusion as he put on his jacket.

"Where are you...oh, ok." Hao nodded and let his brother by. Yoh waved and then was out the door.

"Where's he going?" Meg asked.

"Oh, we'll see in a couple minutes." Hao simply said with a mischievous grin. Meg glared at him, but Hao just poked his tongue out at her. She grumbled as she and Katie sat down at the table. Katie chuckled at her and peered at Young Hao.

Young Hao averted his eyes, but Katie grasped his chin and lifted it. He found himself looking into joyous grey-blue orbs, not a hint of anger or grudge in them.

"I knew you could do it." She said happily. Young Hao found himself blushing.

"I was almost too late, though." He murmured.

"But, you pulled through and that's what matters." Meg replied. Young Hao felt a hand grip his and looked into his twin's gentle eyes.

"You found your heart, that's all that matters to me."

Meg just smiled at the picture that was in front of her, but she couldn't help but wonder now that the two are together like they should be; will the past and the future ever return back to normal, or will their departure leave them in a darker place…..

Leo: REVIEW PLEASE!


	18. Chapter 18

Wolf and Leo: Own nothing, second to last chapter!

"Meg, what's up?" Meg looked up into her best friend's worried, stormy-sea eyes. She managed a wry smile.

"You always know when there's something bothering me, don't you?" Katie didn't answer, just continued to stare at her anxiously. Meg sighed. "Ok, I'm just wondering what's going to happen when we leave. Are these two going to have any support, or will their new relationship be met with only hostility? And if so, do they have the strength to forge through it, or will they fall to pieces?"

Young Hao growled hotly at the suggestion that he would go back to the way he was. "I am not going to-" A large hand pressed over his mouth.

"Peace." Hao said. "While your question is valid Meg, I'm not sure you quite understand the depth of the connection that Yoh and Hao now have. When your mind is open at all times to another it is impossible to even think of betraying them. Yoh and Hao have complete understanding of each other, and now draw their strength from each other. If worst comes to worst they will be able to stand alone."

"But hopefully that doesn't happen." Katie murmured. Hao nodded and lightly kissed her cheek.

"Well, that is what our Yoh has gone to find out." He said with a mysterious wink. Any further questions were drowned out as the front door opened and a babble of voices moved through the house towards the kitchen.

Yoh wandered in at the head of a crowd of people that included Young Yoh's family and his friends. "What is going on?" Yohmei demanded angrily. Keiko though, saw her son, and giving a glad cry, raced over to hug him.

"Yoh, you're alright!" Young Hao stepped back as the rest of his brother's friends raced in to form a group hug.

"I'm fine, I'm fine." Young Yoh protested in a muffled voice. "Guys, I can't breathe." His friends let him go.

"How?" Manta asked.

"You know the answer, there was only ever one way." Hao reminded them. The shamans all turned as one to look at Young Hao, who suddenly found the ground very interesting. "And now, all of you have a choice to make."

"What do you mean?" Ren asked, eyes narrowing.

"We mean that your Yoh and Hao are now a package, the two of them are together, bound for the rest of their lives." Yoh paused a moment, closing his eyes. "To accept Yoh means also to accept Hao now, and the question is, are you able to do that?"

Silence met his words, but Yohmei was the one to break it. "Never!" The old patriarch growled. "We will never accept that monster."

"Then you can't accept me either." Young Yoh said, voice soft. "He and I are bound, grandfather, and we will not be parted."

"Weak little fool, taken in by the enemy." Yohmei sneered. "Some heir you are." Young Yoh flinched at his words, and his brother came up behind him, resting one hand on his shoulder reassuringly.

"That is only one opinion." Hao stated. "And the rest of you?" His eyes swept over Yoh's friends; Ren, Horohoro, Manta, Ryu, Faust, Chocolove and Lyserg.

After a moment of awkward silence Ren moved forward, not taking his eyes off the younger twins. "Yoh, you taught me that I didn't have to live the way I did, you taught me to live without hate. I'll be damned if I didn't believe you could do it for Hao too." He reached out to clap Yoh on the shoulder. "I'm with you, both of you."

Slowly Manta came forward too, watching Hao nervously, but still brave enough to trust Yoh. Horohoro, Ryu and Faust followed. Chocolove looked back and forth between the twins worriedly for a minute and then shrugged, wandering over as well.

"I'm sorry Yoh." Lyserg whispered with eyes anguished. "I can't...I just can't."

"It's ok Lyserg." Young Yoh replied sadly. "Maybe someday you'll change your mind."

"All of you are fools." Yohmei hissed angrily. "Come now, we are leaving." Lyserg had already gone as Yohmei urged the rest of Yoh's family to leave. Mikihisa and Kino went readily enough, but Keiko stood where she was, unmoving.

"Keiko, come." Mikihisa said when he noticed her there. Keiko shook her head.

"Keiko, that's an order." Yohmei growled.

"No, Tou-san, I will not turn my back on my sons." Keiko replied, dark eyes flashing with defiance. "Yoh has chosen forgiveness and so will I."

Yohmei's mouth worked and then his jaw clenched. "You will all regret this decision." He said, and then whirled around to stalk out of the house, Kino and Mikihisa behind him.

"Your _sons_?" Young Hao repeated, turning to stare at Keiko. Her face broke into a gentle smile that reminded him of his brother's.

"Of course. No matter what has happened, you are still my son." She replied, leaning down to cup his chin and kiss his forehead. Yoh and Hao chuckled.

"You see Meg? I think these two are going to be just fine." Yoh wrapped his fiancé up in his arms, smiling broadly. "They have their friends, their mother and each other. Everything worked out just fine."

"We just saw the Asakuras storm out of here." Yami, Yugi, Bakura, Ryou, Seto, Mokuba and Joey wandered in.

"Yeah, Yohmei looked like someone had shoved dung under his nose." Bakura laughed.

"What happened?" Seto asked, looking around at the shamans in the kitchen.

"We've just secured Yoh and Hao's future with the people that care about them." Hao replied, smiling.

All the sudden Young Yoh gasped, staring at the travellers from another universe. All looked to see that the Parallel worlders were steadily becoming transparent.

"Looks like it's time for them to go." Young Hao said softly. Yoh and Hao smiled in reply.

"We're not needed anymore." Yoh said. "The task that needed to be done is done, and now we can return."

"You're the Shaman Kings in your world, aren't you?" Young Yoh asked. Hao laughed brightly.

"Yes, I'm a little surprised it took so long for either of you to figure out, but I suppose you had other things on your mind."

"So, you're going back home then?" Young Hao asked.

"Yes, like we said, you don't need us here, and...we miss home." The sound of Yoh's voice was becoming increasingly distant sounding, as though he were becoming farther and farther away.

"Yoh, before you go, promise me one thing." Young Yoh pleaded. Yoh nodded and smiled. "Promise me you'll find your mother, and show her how great you have become." Yoh's smile grew sad, but he nodded again.

'**I promise, and in return, you two must promise us to take care of each other always.' ** Yoh's voice was fading along with his and his friends' bodies. Young Hao wrapped an arm around his brother's shoulders, speaking just as the Crazies disappeared completely.

"We promise."

Leo: so were finally going back to our own universe…..

Wolf: (crosses arms approvingly) looks like it.

Leo: well… what happens now?

Wolf: (grins mischievously) that my friend will wait till next chapter, nice try though.

Leo: (crosses arms pouting) drat!

Wolf: (grins) review please!


	19. Chapter 19

Wolf and Leo: Last chapter folks! Enjoy! And, of course, we own nothing!

The Crazies found themselves back in Seto's mansion.

"How long were we gone?" Katie asked as Bo looped crazily around the rooms, clearly happy to be back home.

"Let me check." Seto replied, booting up his computer. He stared in surprise at the screen. "It says we weren't gone at all. It's the same day as when we were sucked through."

"You're welcome." Hao grinned cockily. Yoh flicked him in the ear.

"So, I guess we just pick up where we left off?" Yugi asked tentatively.

"Not just yet." Yoh stated. "There's something Hao and I need to do..."

%&%&%&%

Keiko Asakura sat alone in her home in Izumo. It wasn't that she was alone in the house, however, no; all of her family and Anna too were there with her, in the same room in fact. It was the feeling she got when she was around, that she was no longer a part of them, that she was an outsider, it was that which triggered her loneliness.

Keiko remembered the day she was told that Yoh was dead. They had told her that Yoh had died to make sure Hao would never return, and that was all. Keiko remembered looking into their eyes and seeing that it wasn't the whole truth, but she could not get them to tell her more.

After that things became tense and awkward between them. It was like there was this rift, made up of secrets they would not tell, that had sprung up between them. And then nearly two years ago they had disappeared for a couple days, coming back angry but unwilling to say why, and the rift had grown that much bigger.

And so she spent as little time as possible around them, preferring to tend to her gardens, or sitting in the living room, reading a book. That was what she was doing now; it was raining, so she could not go outside. For some reason, today her thoughts kept straying back to Yoh. This was unusual because over the last three years she had schooled herself to not think about him, because it made her want to cry every time.

Suddenly a knock came at the front door. Keiko looked up from her book, confused. There were few people that would pay them a visit. The others had looked up too, tense for some reason. The knock came again. Keiko got up and headed for the door.

"Keiko..." Yohmei warned, but Keiko ignored him, a slight hum of anticipation going through her. She flung open the door to behold her visitor.

She had to look up, for although she was a tall woman, he was taller, as tall as her husband. Her eyes flicked over the earrings in his one ear and the soft chestnut hair before moving to his face. His gentle black eyes peered down at her, and his lips tugged up into a carefree, familiar smile, and Keiko knew who it was she was looking at.

"Yoh!" She cried, flinging herself into his arms, forgetting that he was supposed to be dead. He wrapped his own arms around her and lifted her off the ground, laughing happily.

"Kaa-san." He breathed, joy etched into his face. They clung together for a couple minutes before Keiko realized they were both getting wet.

"Why don't you come inside?" She asked, wiping her eyes. Yoh smiled again.

"Is it alright if we both come in?" He said, stepping aside so she could see who was there with him.

Keiko gasped at the sight of the other tall man there. His hair was very long and his eyes, though kind, were sharper than Yoh's. Keiko knew immediately that she was looking at Hao. But Keiko could see none of the monster that her family had told her that he was. No, all she saw was a young man regarding her with a shy, hopeful look.

"Of course, come in." She said graciously. As Hao moved into the house Keiko reached up to cup his face in her hands. Hao blinked down at her, eyes betraying uncertainty. Keiko gently pulled his head down and stood up on her tiptoes to kiss him on the forehead.

"You've both grown into handsome young men." She whispered with tears in her eyes. "Why then did they tell me you were dead?"

"Because he had aligned himself with that monster!" Keiko turned at the sound of her father's voice to find them all standing there, looking ready to do battle.

"And so you tried to kill him?" Keiko asked incredulously, understanding dawning on her. Mikihisa was the only one to look away from her angry and confused face. She shook her head at all of them. "I don't know you anymore, any of you."

"Well we failed anyways." Anna spat. "And they emerged even more powerful than before."

"We became the Shaman Kings." Hao explained. "The entire story takes some time to tell, and I think we've overstayed our welcome." He gave the glaring shamans an amused look.

"You're not going to leave again, are you?"

"You can come with us." Yoh replied. "We live in a large place, there's plenty of room for you, if you don't mind noise and craziness."

"I will come, I can no longer stand it here." Keiko glared at the other shamans and took Yoh's offered arm. Yoh nodded and Hao came to stand next to them. Keiko felt a surge of power and a white glow surrounded them briefly and then dispelled with a pop and Keiko found herself surrounded by complete insanity.

They had popped in the middle of the living room of Kaiba's mansion, to find a large group of teenagers in the middle of a truth or dare game.

Malik was sitting on the floor without a shirt, Bakura was tied to a chair spitting Egyptian curses at Meg and Katie, Katie holding a key to the chain lock and Meg was looking at a very nice handmade Egyptian dagger and both of them barley a foot in front of him.

Seto was sitting on the couch, smirking, with furious Joey, in a puppy costume, in his lap and a leash, connected to the collar around Joey's neck, firmly in hand.

Yami was pouting on the other couch staring at Yugi, who was standing across the living room petting Jasmine in a jean mini skirt, a black leather tank top that fit snuggly to his side's easily showing off his curves, and in healed black leather biker boots.

Then stomping on the stair case made them turn around, to find Marik coming down in a bright pink fairy costume with pink wings, a fake silver crown, and a pink frilly wand in hand.

"Yami I'm going to seriously hurt you for this one!" he growled gaining every ones attention. As everyone started snickering Yami smirked "I call this pay back for what you did to me and my light" he wiggled a little bit on the couch. The newcomers now noticing that his hands are tied behind his back, and his feet chained to the leg of the couch. Even Bakura in his precarious position found it in him to laugh, as Marik stomped out the front door. Since a couple of their group couldn't move do to their dares, Malik took a video camera that had a wireless transmitter connected to it, and the other end was attached to the living room TV. Everyone had a good laugh as Marik had to try to convince a young child that he was the tooth fairy and also had to convince the parent that they didn't need to call the cops because he was a lunatic. After about a good 5 min's of this he gave up and marched back inside, not hearing the child ask his mother

"Where's the tooth fairy going mommy?" everyone inside the mansion cracked up at that.

"When did the Chaos twins get here?" Yoh murmured.

"Probably just a couple minutes ago." Hao replied.

"Well, your friends certainly know how to enjoy themselves." Keiko commented. Meg and Katie turned hearing the unfamiliar voice to notice that their fiancés had returned then and bounced over to kiss them.

"Kaa-san, I want you to meet someone very special to me." Yoh said, taking Meg's hand and leading her forward. "This is Meg, my fiancée." Keiko looked at the small girl with the grey-blue eyes and the stubborn set to her face and smiled.

"I'm pleased to meet you." She said, bowing slightly. Meg inclined her head in reply and then snuggled it into her fiancée shoulder. Hao coughed slightly.

"If we're making introductions I'd like you to meet my fiancée, Katie." He said with love in his voice. "She's the one to thank for my change in attitude."

"You did that yourself." Katie countered. "All I did was show you the way."

"with a little help" Meg murmured getting a snicker from Yoh, Hao on the other hand just shook his head and smiled. After a giving Katie a kiss Hao asked

"So, what do you think of our home?"

"It feels like home." Keiko sighed. "I can feel the love in it, something I haven't felt for a long time."

"Every day's a surprise around here, we never know what's going to happen." Jeanne commented.

"Yea and you can start by untying me!" shouted Bakura from his vulnerable position in the chair.

"Me too!" shouted Yami and Joey at the same time

"Na!" shouted Meg and Katie at the same time and with a mischievous grin set the three sets of keys on the coffee table next to them, getting shouts from the tied occupants.

Keiko just laughed.

"Well then, let's get started!" She found an unopened pop can on the coffee table. "To the first day of the rest of our lives!"

"Hear, Hear!" the girls shouted lifting their own only to have Hao and Yoh snatch them and take off.

"Hey get back here!" the girls shouted, chasing after them.

The boys just laughed as they ran, knowing that no matter what, they would always be together.

%&%&%&%

_And so there's the story. It started with a couple of girls finding that their place in the world was in another world. The story went on to find true love in the strangest places and to find that all hearts can change. And then they were able to show these lessons to others like them. _

_Their lives went on, as all do. Adventures and mishaps were common, but the bond between all never ceased. It could be said that in their lives the world became a better place, and that it seemed to stay that way. _

_Here's to the Crazies, and here's to the end of their tale._

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~%~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~~~~%~~~~~~~~~ Leo: (crying)

Wolf: (looks confused) uhhh Leo? Why are you crying?

Leo: (sniffles) that's the end of the story.

Wolf: and…..

Leo: (looks confused)

Wolf: you do remember that we have another story coming out right?

Leo: (looks thoughtful) (then check's email)

Wolf: (sighs, tapping foot)

Leo: oh here it is, well what ya know! we do!

Wolf: (shakes head) we'll see ya in our next up coming story it's called….

Leo: wolf!

Wolf: what!

Leo: don't tell them it will ruin the surprise!

Wolf: (pouts)

Leo: (laughs) review please!


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